Covid-19 is not only a public health emergency, it is also a communication emergency

United Nations stated that Covid-19 is not only a public health emergency, it is also a communications emergency.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that as soon as the virus spread across the globe, inaccurate and even dangerous messages proliferated. He was talking in a video message to a parallel event of the World Health Organization (WHO) on 'Infodemic Management: Promoting healthy behaviors in the time of Covid-19 and mitigating the harm from misinformation and disinformation'.

Many of those messages proliferated wildly over social media, leaving people confused, misled and ill-advised, he added.

'The antidote lies in making sure that science-backed facts and health guidance circulate even faster, and reach people wherever they access information,' Guterres pointed out.

According to Guterres, this will be especially critical as we work to build public confidence in the safety and efficacy of future Covid-19 vaccines.

We need a 'people's vaccine' that is affordable and available to all, Guterres stressed.

Only together in solidarity, with a well-informed public, will we emerge from this pandemic safe and better, he added.

He also referred to a UN initiative to fight misinformation and for which media partners, individuals, influencers and social media platforms are working.

The content we spread promotes science, offers solutions and inspires solidarity, he added.