Scottish Government
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Health Information Integrity Strategy
Focus on using trusted and accurate sources.
People should use trustworthy sources of information to make the best possible decisions about health, Health Secretary Neil Gray has said.
In response to the growing volume of false information, and a recommendation from the pandemic advisory group, the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness, the Scottish Government has launched a Scottish Health Information Integrity Strategy.
Mr Gray said it would help the NHS counter false and misleading health information by giving healthcare professionals the tools to enable people to make the best possible choices about their own health.
He said: “There is lot of health information at our fingertips, but often it is not in line with the science and evidence produced by international experts. Some of it is misleading, inaccurate, and sometimes just plain false. This strategy will help the Scottish Government and our health partners respond to the growing threat from such poor-quality information.
“For all of us, understanding our health and options is vital, as the wrong information can lead us to make the wrong choices that can harm us or our loved ones. The Scottish Health Information Integrity Strategy will guide our response to these challenges and help retain public trust in the NHS.
“For any health questions, in the first instance, people should go to Scotland’s national health information service NHS Inform, which provides evidence-based and accurate health information.”
University of Edinburgh Chair in Public Health, and Scottish Government Chief Social Policy Adviser Professor Linda Bauld said:
“People are seeking information about their health in new ways, and often from platforms which are not accurate.
“This strategy marks the beginning of the Scottish healthcare system’s response. It describes potential first steps to help NHS Scotland and others build and maintain trust and find the best ways of providing people with information.”
The strategy makes a number of recommendations on developing leadership and co-ordination, and rapidly responding and building resilience to false health information.
These include:
- providing dedicated resources
- participating in UK and international networks
- supporting staff to have evidence-based conversations with patients
- supporting embedding media, digital and health literacy into the Curriculum for Excellence
- engaging with community partners and third-sector organisations on public health messaging.
Background
Scottish Health Information Strategy
The strategy focuses on leadership and co-ordination, building Scotland’s resilience to false information and rapid response. The detailed actions have been jointly agreed by Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland and Education Scotland in consultation with the NHS and other stakeholders.
It does not make recommendations for regulation of the online environment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines misinformation as the ‘spread of false information without the intent to mislead’ and disinformation as information ‘designed or spread with full knowledge of it being false…as part of an intention to deceive and cause harm’.
Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness - gov.scot
Scottish Government Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness (SCoPP) final report
Original article link: https://www.gov.scot/news/health-information-integrity-strategy/
