GS Paper: GS2-13.Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Managing the “infodemic” has been a serious challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, says a Chief Scientist at World Health Organization (WHO).

Try this question for mains:

Q.‘Infodemic’ management these days has become a greater challenge than the actual course of pandemic management. Discuss.

Defining Infodemic

• Infodemic implies too much information, including false or misleading information, particularly on social media.
• It has led to confusion, risk-taking and ultimately mistrust towards governments and the public health response.

WHO framework for infodemics

• The WHO has a framework for managing the coronavirus infodemic.
• Infodemiology is now acknowledged by public health organizations and the WHO as an important emerging scientific field and critical area of practice during a pandemic.
• From the perspective of being the first “infodemiolgist” who originally coined the term almost two decades ago, the author posts four pillars of infodemic management:

1. Information monitoring (infoveillance)
2. Building eHealth Literacy and science literacy capacity
3. Encouraging knowledge refinement and quality improvement processes such as fact-checking and peer-review
4. Accurate and timely knowledge translation, minimizing distorting factors such as political or commercial influences

The article highlights the achievement in the fight against AIDS. Most significant are the achievements in the prevention of transmission from mother-to-child.

Significant gains

• As per recently released 2019 HIV estimates by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO)/Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the technical support of UNAIDS there has been a 66.1% reduction in new HIV infections among children and a 65.3% reduction in AIDS-related deaths in India over a nine-year period.
• The number of pregnant women living with HIV has reduced from 31,000 in 2010 to 20,000 in 2019.
• Overall, antenatal coverage has expanded, and HIV testing has increased over time and within target range.
• Treatment coverage has also expanded.

Progress in preventing mother to child transmission

• Under the leadership of NACO, a ‘Fast-Tracking of EMTCT (elimination of mother-to-child transmission) strategy-cum-action plan’ was outlined by June 2019.
• The plan entailed mobilisation and reinforcement of all national, State and partners’ collective efforts to achieve the EMTCT goal.
• Additionally, in March 2020, we began efforts to minimise challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• From 2010 to 2019, India made important progress in reducing the HIV impact on children through prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
• This was done through education and communication programmes; increased access to HIV services with innovative delivery mechanisms for HIV testing; counselling and care; and treatment and follow-ups.
• India made HIV testing for all pregnant women free and HIV treatment is offered the same way nationwide without cost to pregnant mothers living with HIV through the national ‘treat all’ policy.
• For two years UNICEF has worked with the World Health Organization and NACO to identify high burden districts (in terms of density of pregnant women living with HIV) as the last mile towards disease elimination.
• Since 2002, when the EMTCT of HIV programmes were launched in India, a series of policy, programmatic and implementation strategies were rolled out so that all pregnant women can access free HIV testing and free treatment regimens for life to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to babies.
• This has been made possible in government health centres and grass-root level workers through village health and nutrition days and other grass-roots events under the National Health Mission.
• Indeed, the approach being promoted by UNICEF in focusing attention and resources in high burden districts is supported by the HIV strategic information division of NACO and UNAIDS to better understand the locations and populations most HIV affected, so that technical support and HIV services can be directed towards these areas.

Conclusion

Using data-driven and decision-making approaches it is certain that AIDS will no longer be a public health threat for children in India by the end of 2030, if not before.