Title
Receive an updated response to Board Referral No. 2021.16 seeking to combat health misinformation and curb the spread of falsehoods that threaten the health and safety of our residents and visitors.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Receive an updated response to Board Referral No. 2021.16 seeking to combat health misinformation and curb the spread of falsehoods that threaten the health and safety of our residents and visitors.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Board Referral No. 2021-16 (Attachment A) assigned on September 14, 2021, requests the County Administrative Officer and the Monterey County Health Department implement the areas of action cited by the Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek H. Murthy in his advisory entitled "Confronting Health Misinformation" (Advisory) (Attachment B). U.S. Surgeon Murthy issued his first Advisory on July 15, 2021, to warn the public about the urgent threat of health misinformation, including disinformation which has threatened the nation's public health response to COVID-19.
As stated in the Advisory, addressing health misinformation will require a "whole-of-society" effort and as such includes a call to action for all stakeholders including individuals, families, and communities as well as the education, healthcare, media, technology, research, philanthropy, and government sectors. Specifically, governments can take the following actions:
* Convene federal, state, local, territorial, tribal, private, nonprofit, and research partners
* Increase investment in research on misinformation
* Continue to modernize public health communications
* Increase resources and technical assistance to state and local public health agencies
* Expand efforts to build long-term resilience to misinformation
Board Referral No. 2021.16 identifies these additional strategies:
* Identify and label health misinformation and disseminate timely health information to counter misinformation that i...
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