Abstract

This scoping review explores the history of the term infodemic and its usefulness as a tool for public health policymaking. It presents the information-related problems the term has encompassed; historical research on these problems, which predate the term itself; and in-depth analyses of their iterations in three historical outbreaks with long-term significance for public health policy: the 1918 influenza pandemic, the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, and the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of scientific practice that inadvertently contributed to the generation of misinformation, as well as other factors that played a role: historical legacies, persistent inequalities and a growing distrust of scientific authority. Historical perspective helps balance contemporary analyses of infodemics that focus too narrowly on the role of new social media in disseminating misinformation and disinformation. Insights derived from the historical record can also be useful to contemporary infodemic management.

Contents

• ABBREVIATIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• SUMMARY
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1. Background
  • 1.2. Methodology
• 2. RESULTS
  • 2.1. Infodemics: general findings
  • 2.2. Findings on the influenza pandemic, 1918
  • 2.3. Findings on the early HIV/AIDS pandemic, 1980s
  • 2.4. Findings on the SARS outbreak, 2003
• 3. DISCUSSION
  • 3.1. Strengths and limitations of the scoping review
  • 3.2. Potential relevance of the historical findings to contemporary infodemic management
  • 3.3. Areas for further historical research
  • 3.4. Policy considerations
• 4. CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES
• ANNEX 1. SEARCH STRATEGY
• ANNEX 2. ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND MATERIALS

Suggested citation:

Tomes N, Parry M. What are the historical roots of the COVID-19 infodemic? Lessons from the past. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 77).

The Health Evidence Network

The Health Evidence Network (HEN) is an information service for public health decision-makers in the WHO European Region, in action since 2003 and initiated and coordinated by the WHO Regional Office for Europe under the umbrella of the WHO European Health Information Initiative (a multipartner network coordinating all health information activities in the WHO European Region).

HEN supports public health decision-makers to use the best available evidence in their own decisionmaking and aims to ensure links between evidence, health policies and improvements in public health. The HEN synthesis report series provides summaries of what is known about the policy issue, the gaps in the evidence and the areas of debate. Based on the synthesized evidence, HEN proposes policy considerations, not recommendations, for policy-makers to formulate their own recommendations and policies within their national context.

Behavioural and Cultural Insights Unit

The Behavioural and Cultural Insights (BCI) Unit at the WHO Regional Office for Europe explores the structural, contextual and individual factors that affect health behaviours. It uses these insights to strengthen health-related policies, services and communication to deliver better health and reduce inequity. Many of the Region’s most pressing health problems are not medical but rather behavioural, social, cultural, political, psychological or economic in nature. Building a culture of health, in which everyone is supported to make healthy choices, depends on nuanced insights into these contexts as they are experienced by people and into the factors that affect human behaviours and decision-making. Using a rigorous, evidence-informed approach that builds on the health humanities and social sciences, the BCI Unit works with health authorities to improve the way their services respond to their citizens’ needs for people-centred care.

Infodemic Management team

The Infodemic Management (IM) team, under the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) team within the Health Emergencies programme, contributes to emergency preparedness and response by ensuring informed decision-making, encouraging protective behaviours among at-risk and affected people, and empowering communities to be part of the solution. At regional level, IM contributes to strengthening RCCE structures, systems and skills through improving social listening capabilities, capacity-building at country level, and weekly signal reports on ongoing emergencies using state-of-the-art digital tools and listening dashboards, and HealthBuddy+. WHO leads on expanding the infodemic evidence base by developing implementation guidance, contributing to external peer-reviewed publications, and policy guidance. To build cohesive plans around managing and mitigating the spread of harmful mis- and disinformation, WHO convenes key infodemic stakeholders and response actors.

ISSN 2789-9217

ISBN 978-92-890-5845-2 (PDF)

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Suggested citation: Tomes N, Parry MS. What are the historical roots of the COVID-19 infodemic? Lessons from the past. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 77).

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