Infodemic Management System in Ghana - Using Digital Information and Knowledge Co-creation to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

Abstract for Preformed Panel Presentation from the 2022 International SBCC Summit in Morocco:

"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a vital need for immunization programs to better manage misinformation. The Health Promotion Division of the Ghana Health Services (GHS) together with the Ghana UNICEF [United Nations Children's Fund] Country Office has developed a systematic, 4-step approach to managing vaccine misinformation to support COVID-19 vaccine rollout. First, social listening and misinformation identification involves the collection and filtering of social and mainstream media posts by keyword queries using a commercial software platform (Talkwalker). An analyst then reviews and verifies posts flagged as misinformation. The second step includes assessing the level of risk (high, medium, low) of misinformation alerts based on the UNICEF risk assessment matrix. Step 3 involves verification of the findings and co-creation of appropriate, culturally acceptable, and practical responses through the National Misinformation Taskforce, which was established to implement and oversee this process. Building upon an existing taskforce of Risk Communication and Social Mobilization (RCSM) experts, it was expanded to include other public health experts, media, development partners, fact checkers, and UNICEF. After final approval process by appropriate government agencies, the GHS and Ministry of Information implement the response in Step 4. The Ghanaian vaccine misinformation management system is a functional and sustainable mechanism which can develop culturally appropriate infodemic responses that can be replicated in other countries in the world. This work will also support the ministry's future efforts to systematically address vaccine-related misinformation including for routine immunization."