PHILADELPHIA, October 13, 2021 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) is partnering with YouTube to create new educational content to help combat health misinformation about the COVID-19 virus, vaccination and treatments. The videos will focus on communication strategies for clinicians as well as providing proactive, trusted information in the clinicians’ voice.
ACP has expressed its concern about the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 virus, vaccination and treatments, and its detrimental impact on public health. ACP strongly supports the use of science and scientific expertise, based on the best available evidence, in the fight against COVID-19. The spread of inaccurate and incorrect information about COVID-19 hinders our ability to mitigate the spread of the virus and combat the global public health crisis.
“The spread of health misinformation continues to be a serious threat to the public health. The best tool to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus and its variants is to build trust in the use of science, based on the best available evidence,” said George M. Abraham, MD, MPH, MACP, President, ACP. “We look forward to working with YouTube to develop resources and educational content to address this important issue.”
ACP will provide resources in English and Spanish for physicians on how to assess and address medical misinformation through a series of videos to pro-actively share evidence-based strategies to offer credible information about vaccines for clinicians and the public. In addition, ACP is developing video content for the public to answer their questions about vaccines with trusted information from physicians. The videos will also highlight the challenges around misinformation and focus on where to go for credible medical information.
"As a long-standing Fellow of the ACP, I believe in the power of the ACP to bring these important messages about vaccines to life for physicians, patients and caregivers," said Garth Graham, MD, Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health Partnerships, YouTube. "I know how much the physician's voice matters to patients when they are making decisions about their healthcare, and I'm so glad to have them as a partner for this initiative to connect people with helpful, credible information on YouTube."
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 161,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
ACP Media Contact: Andrew Hachadorian, (215) 351-2514, AHachadorian@acponline.org