Un-leveling the public health playing field

1+1=2. The earth is round. we went to the moon Vaccines work.

You can discuss anything. But what is the value of debate if all it accomplishes is heightening nonsense and at the same time undermining fundamental truths? There is no value in “listening to both sides” when one side (no matter how well-intentioned) is clearly wrong. It's time to call it what it is. The time has come to level the public health playing field.

This is the puzzle surrounding the current battle between the forces of misinformation (false beliefs), disinformation (deliberate lies), and the science of public health. “Mis/Diss” have always been a thorny issue for agencies like the Food and Drug Administration. But it has exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, for a variety of reasons that are useless to go into detail here. Why is it useless? Because repeating a lie in order to expose it only magnifies the dangerous lie.

When it comes to miss/dis, the public health community is in a situation. asymmetric warfare situation. In the real world, politics, controversies, tweets, and threads take precedence over higher education, better academic affiliation, and peer review. Nobel laureates don't ring a bell for vaccine deniers.

It's time to recognize that the best way to combat public health scandals and scandals is to focus on a few basic, true, urgent, and easy-to-understand messages. First, get a flu shot.

Why not take the initiative to think about the importance of getting a COVID-19 booster? Yes, it's urgent, but let's be honest. Diving directly into “Coronavirus'' is not the best strategy. Influenza vaccinations have been around for decades. It's not perfect, but it's been proven time and time again to save lives. On the other hand, discussing the developed anti-vaccine bigwigs accomplishes more for them than for us by helping spread their message that miss/disands are suffering. law of diminishing returns. Want proof? Percentage of parents who have their children on a basic vaccination schedule (i.e. MMR, measles, mumps and rubella vaccines) are on the decline. Childhood basic vaccination rates are now lower than before the pandemic; More parents are requesting child exemptions. I'm scared. Be very afraid of the consequences.

So why focus on seasonal influenza? Getting a flu shot can save lives — Many of them occur particularly among high-risk groups, such as Americans over 65, people with certain chronic conditions, and communities of color. Sound familiar? It should. The public health community (regulators, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, school administrators, etc.) says this every year. Before the pandemic, no one would criticize or call it “fake news” if a flu shot was implanted with a microchip. Not everyone followed our advice (no one does), but there are no powerful political, religious, or social media communities actively engaged in the “war on flu shots” was.

But it's more than just protecting yourself from the flu or “just”. save 35,000 lives One year since this particular respiratory virus. It's about reintroducing trust in public health systems and vaccines. By aggressively promoting annual flu shots, we are focusing our message on the great “mobile middle class” rather than on those who are most staunchly opposed to vaccines. In an asymmetric war situation, you want to fight where you can win.

as Sun Tzu reminds us: “The more opportunities you seize, the more opportunities you have.””

We are living on borrowed time.previous COVID-19 vaccinations are less effective against current variants and new and effective Booster rate is low. Childhood vaccination rates, a fundamental pillar of our public health strategy, are declining, seasonal influenza deaths are on the rise, and the public health community is (at least for now) on the back foot in the battle for public trust. there is. To reverse this trend, we must first recognize it, recognize that trust is earned, and finally recognize that there are no shortcuts or silver bullets.

In the fight against misinformation and disinformation, the public health community is working with us to convince America's great mobile middle class (slowly at first, then more quickly and plainly) to do the right thing. must fight a battle that can be won. America. Roll up your sleeves and get your flu shot.

Peter Pitts, former FDA Deputy Commissioner, is director of the Center for Health in the Public Interest and a visiting fellow in the New York University School of Medicine Division of Medical Ethics.