U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Cautions Indian Americans Against Misinformation About COVID-19

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wants Indian Americans to be aware of fake news on the COVID-19 pandemic. “Misinformation is a virus itself, and it harms people,” he said. “In a pandemic, when you’re responding, information is power and if you can get the right information to people, they can take steps to protect themselves.” Murthy was speaking at a virtual webinar on the dangers of misinformation as India battles its worst public health crisis in a century.

The May 16 webinar — ‘FACT CHECK: Addressing Disinformation about COVID-19 and India’ — was organized by Dharma Into Actin Foundation, and included a diverse panel of experts in data science, business, media and philanthropy, who talked addressed disinformation about COVID-19 and India. 

The deadly second surge that is currently raging through India is personal for many Indian Americans, with several members of the family and friends being affected. Many are relying on social media platforms as a source of information, along with connecting with family and friends. And hence, Murthy’s advice is timely and important.

Noting that “source matters,” Murthy advised people to check and rely on information that comes from your known circles. A lot of time people blindly forward messages without checking their authenticity or veracity.  “The government and the private sector can make all the vaccines and masks they want, but they will be of no value if people don’t want to use them because of misinformation,” he added. “Each one of us can play a role to combat misinformation.” And as much of this misinformation is being spread on social media platforms, Murthy said it’s “essential that we hold these platforms responsible.” 

“India and its neighbors are experiencing a heartbreaking and virulent wave of COVID-19 that is overloading the country’s infrastructure and costing thousands of lives per day,” the foundation said. “The outbreak has been described as the greatest humanitarian threat to India since Partition in 1947. The public health crisis has been exacerbated by an outbreak of disinformation and misinformation, often compounded by a loss of confidence in vital institutions like government, scientific academies and the media.” Shekar Narasimhan, president of Dharma Into Action Foundation.

The webinar and the Q&A that followed was moderated by journalist Mitra Kalita and Parag Mehta, a senior vice president at Mastercard. 

The discussion began with a “grounding into science” by Ali H. Mokdad, a professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health at the University of Washington. “COVID-19 was the leading cause of deaths in India in the last week by a big margin, and is 2.8 times more than the second leading cause of deaths which is usually cardiovascular diseases,” Mokdad said. India currently has the highest number of COVID-19 cases compared to any country in the world. 

Through a series of slides, he presented the grim conditions on the ground. And he had some “good news” to share as well. “Our projections right now show that cases have peaked in India and are coming down. We expect 4.8 million cases in India on a daily basis and it’ll be coming down all the way to Sept. 1.It’s very good news.” he said, and added: “People in India are doing what it takes in order to decrease the surge by reducing mobility. Mask use has increased in India almost 80 percent.”

Dr. Gagandeep Kang, one of India’s eminent virologists shared the situation on the ground. Kang is professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. She was roped in by the Karnataka government last week to advise on vaccination strategy. She is also a member of the advisory committee of the World Health Organisation on research and use of vaccines. She shared her skepticism about the government’s claim that it will get over 2 billion doses of vaccine from August to December, as the production capacity of vaccine makers such as Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech is yet to ramp up. “I take the projections with a grain of salt,” she said. Adding that there is no large stockpile of vaccines available as claimed earlier, Kang said there’s also no sufficient data to show the efficacy of Bharat Biotech’s nasal vaccine and Zydus Cadila’s DNA vaccine.

Among the panelists was Nisha Biswal, senior vice president for international strategy at the US Chamber of Commerce and president of the US India Business Council. A member of the “Global Task Force on Pandemic Response: Mobilizing for India,” Biswal said the initiative was an unparalleled effort by corporate America to send assistance to India. “There are implications beyond India that we need to be preparing for. Going forward, the task force will support other hotspots in consultation with the U.S. government to generate maximum impact.