Fighting medical misinformation and disinformation: Intervention opportunities for the future-A critical review

The rapid spread of medical misinformation and disinformation, also called an infodemic, presents a serious challenge to public health, resulting in adverse outcomes such as vaccine hesitancy and distrust in the healthcare system. Addressing this misinformation crisis requires interdisciplinary teamwork involving various stakeholders, including healthcare professionals (HCPs), medical journalists, the general public, effective policies, and digital tools to combat misinformation. This review examines strategies to combat medical misinformation and disinformation, with a focus on global and Indian frameworks and policy recommendations. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, and relevant reviews were selected for inclusion in this analysis. Key interventions include media literacy programs, fact-checking efforts, regulatory policies, the critical roles of HCPs, and collaboration with specialized medical news platforms, staffed by skilled medical journalists in providing evidence-based medical information. Several models propose a multi-level prevention approach covering primordial, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels to address misinformation proactively. Future efforts should focus on strengthening ethical communication policies, integrating media literacy programs into medical curricula, launching awareness campaigns for the general public, and utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) for early infodemic detection.