Covid, Marchione (Aifa): ‘Promoting knowledge against fake news’

“During this pandemic we have witnessed an uncontrolled infodemic and a dissemination of information that is not always verified and verifiable. This is also because at the base there is a completely different information context than in the past. Today we have a circular communication, where they are also shared incorrect information and unjustified alarms. There is therefore the risk of an alteration in the decision-making process of the individual and of the community, but also of the institutions “. This was stated by Pasquale Marchione, health professional manager of the Italian drug agency Aifa, in his speech at the conference ‘Effects of disinformation, from conflicts to everyday life’, organized by the International University for Peace of Rome, in partnership with the Web Press Media Reporter Association. “This can generate an emergency of false hope and a false sense of insecurity and also of security. But the general public and health professionals – remarked Marchione – need to know what we know and in this process we need to communicate uncertainty and promote knowledge”. According to the expert, science and pseudoscience “cannot dialogue with each other because they start from different assumptions and objectives, comparison is not pluralism of information. Even individual opinions – he concluded – must have a principle of authority. The content of these reflections always need to be supported and verified “.