Coalition for Trust in Health & Science Launches to Curb ‘Infodemic’

FRIDAY, March 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Fifty national organizations officially launched the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science to curb health and science misinformation and disinformation.

The alliance aims to achieve a measurable increase in the public’s ability to access evidence-based information necessary to make appropriate health decisions through enhancing trustworthiness of the health and medical system, according to a press release. The coalition currently consists of 50 national organizations representing basic and applied science organizations; health academicians; health services researchers; pharmaceutical manufacturers; physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other professional disciplines; public health professionals; health insurers; health regulators; ethicists; health humanists; foundations; health consumer organizations; and health consulting, policy, and communications organizations.

Member organizations pledged to support efforts to advance people’s scientific and health literacy, earn public trust, and improve health outcomes and health equity. To do so, members will work individually and collectively to correct misinformation and counter disinformation that threatens people’s health and well-being.

“The United States is experiencing a tidal wave of misinformation and disinformation, which has real-world health impacts, such as preventable misery and deaths, and is escalating already dangerously high levels of mistrust and distrust in health care, public health, and science,” Reed Tuckson, M.D., convener of the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, said in a statement. “Addressing this infodemic is fundamental to the values of the coalition’s members and, together, we can and will make a positive impact on the health of individuals and the nation.”