Episode 39: Tim Nguyen: Infodemic Management

More than two years into the global pandemic, COVID-19 continues to impact the ways we work, live, and interact, and new variants of the virus continued to emerge. Managing the pandemic has proved challenging around the world, as has managing Infodemics, shorthand for Information Epidemic (first coined in 2003 by political scientist David Rothkopf regarding the SARS epidemic). Infodmics is defined by the WHO as “too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak.” Where can people find timely updates of credible information from reliable sources?

Asia Society Hong Kong Center continues to bring you regular updates on the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and around the world. We are pleased to host on-the-ground public health experts and internationally renowned specialists as they share the latest facts and evidence-based findings on the global pandemic. Over the past two years, this ground breaking series has featured nearly 40 episodes and welcomed more than 250,000 online views.

In this episode, S. Alice Mong, Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center will host Mr. Tim Nguyen, Head of Unit for High Impact Events in the Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Department of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE), to discuss Infodemic Management.  This episode will explore questions including: How did the Covid-19 Pandemic bring about renewed attention to Infodemics? What are the biggest challenges to managing an Infodemic between the overabundance of information and the spread of medical misinformation?  What are best practices in Infodemic management that can be applied elsewhere? What are the policy implications of Infodemic management? What is the WHO doing to support universal access to reliable health information?

Tim Nguyen is the Head of Unit for High Impact Events in the Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Department of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE). Joining WHO in 2006 working as a Technical Officer in the Yellow Fever Programme which coordinated an initiative funded by the GAVI Alliance to provide 40 million doses of vaccine to most at risk populations. In 2008, he joined WHO’s Global Influenza Programme and took part in the global response work to the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century. In 2011, he was the founding member of WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme and project manager for the development of the first WHO treatment guideline for HCV. From 2014-2017, he was the Unit leader for Knowledge Management, Evidence and Research for Policy-Making at the WHO Regional Office for Europe based in Copenhagen, Denmark. There, he established the scientific journal Public Health Panorama and developed the WHO/Europe resolution and action plan for evidence-informed policy-making.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.