Global health is facing a crisis not only in funding, leadership, and trust, but also in information integrity, according to speakers on the first episode of The Inside Track, a new series from the Global Health Matters podcast.
Host Garry Aslanyan was joined by Catherine Kyobutungi and Ricardo Baptista Leite for a conversation on how misinformation spreads, why trust in science has eroded, and what health leaders can do to push back.
Kyobutungi said the problem has grown alongside an expanding information economy, where sensationalism often travels faster than facts. Scientists, she argued, have not adapted quickly enough to a landscape shaped by influencers, closed online communities and monetised content.
“The biggest, maybe the most colossal failure that … the global health community had was a failure of communication,” she said, pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the inability to clearly explain concepts such as risk to the public.
Baptista Leite warned that the issue goes beyond disagreement. In many cases, he said, people are no longer arguing over the same set of facts.
“If someone comes along and says, No, it’s not a chair, it’s a horse,” he said, “then the conversation becomes impossible.”
Still, both speakers said the answer is not retreat. Kyobutungi urged scientists and global health professionals to return to the public square, speak more clearly and engage not only with those spreading falsehoods, but also with the wider audience watching from the sidelines.
Later in the episode, the panel turned to a recent article on the spread of chikungunya in Europe, using it as an example of how climate warnings often fail to produce meaningful action. The discussion closed on a more hopeful note, highlighting promising work in artificial intelligence and a new Africa-led HIV vaccine trial.
For Kyobutungi, the battle is not lost. But the momentum, she suggested, must still be won back.
Listen to the full conversation >>
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Image Credits: Global Health Matters Podcast.
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