Experts say public information lacking in rise of coronavirus
Panel member warns WHO ‘can’t be trusted’ to provide accurate background
As the World Health Organization dances around the question of whether the novel coronavirus is a pandemic, a professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa warns that to create effective interventions, the public must have a common understanding of the word.
Speaking on a panel on coronavirus, human rights and social media sponsored by the University of Ottawa’s centre for health law, policy and ethics, Prof. Amir Attaran said every epidemic follows a curve. Either it is a steep curve, where the epidemic peaks quickly and subsides, or it peaks slowly, but lasts longer.
The slow-peaking epidemic is preferable. The surge of patients is smaller and the burden on the health-care system is spread out over time. It also buys time — perhaps enough time to develop a vaccine, said Attaran, who has a PhD in cell biology and immunology.
“It’s a no-brainer. You want a slower-peaking, longer-lasting epidemic.”
To achieve that goal, governments must take steps to limit human interactions. This affects a broad swath of society — schools, mass transportation such as air travel and large public gatherings such as festivals, sporting events and conferences are all affected. There are economic and social costs.
This week, Saudi Arabia announced that it was banning foreign pilgrims, Italy barred fans from attending five soccer games this weekend, and Japan asked all of its schools to close for about a month. On Tuesday, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease said it is “not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness.”
Attaran, who has served on expert committees of the World Health Organization, said he is skeptical of the WHO, a United Nations agency that takes the lead in global public health responses.
Scientists must sign a confidentiality agreement that says deliberations of the committee, including the scientists’ own submissions, must never be disclosed, he said. The WHO has changed its own definition of pandemic, he said.
“The World Health Organization can’t be trusted. I say this having worked with them for decades. I don’t choose to do it anymore. It has basically ceased being a scientific organization. It has become a political and (communications) organization,” Attaran said.
“We are in an information-deprived environment. But it is because of the institutions themselves.”
Panellist Yin Yuan Chen, a professor of common law with a background in social work, said travel restrictions, closing borders, banning foreign nationals, and suspending international flights have all occurred in the absence of recommendations from the WHO.
“We need to think long and hard about the cost of travel restrictions,” he said. “Not just economic costs, but social costs.”
Public-health laws are grounded in criminal law and police powers, said Colleen Flood, the director of the Ottawa centre for health law, policy and ethics. The Quarantine Act, for example, has very strong penalties for non-compliance, including fines of up to to $1 million and up to three years in jail. Public-health law can create a conflict between public-health goals and individual rights, endangering an individual’s right to liberty, to work or to care for family members.
However, public-health officials have to respond in real time, she said. “Most public-health actors are unsung heroes. Any mistakes — under- or overprotective — will be punished fiercely.”
Social media can undermine public-health messaging and decision-making. It can be used as a democratic tool, but trust has to be earned, Flood said.
We’re in the midst an “infodemic” — the spread of misinformation, said Jane Bailey, a professor of common law, whose research focuses on technology, privacy and freedom of expression.
The online market has been flooded with information, some of it targeted to infiltrate social media accounts to encourage the spread of misinformation, Bailey said.
“This is a Whac-A-Mole problem, and click-for-profit plays a role in it,” she said.