Typos in WHO report trigger fake news; Health Minister hails removal

Something strange occurred when the World Health Organisation's Sri Lanka office took down two critical reports compiled by an Independent Group of Experts from its website.

WHO-Sri Lanka issued a notice on Wednesday saying; “WHO has not released any recommendations on the COVID-19 quarantine curfew or issued any statement to the media on the matter. WHO continues to support the vaccination drive and compliance with public health and social measures to reverse the impact of COVID-19 in SriLanka."

When local journalists contacted the UN agency to question the reasons that led to the removal of the reports, the organisation said typos in the reports had been incorrectly referred to in local media reports and elsewhere as ‘WHO Expert reports’.

It was the newly appointed Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who took up the matter with the local WHO chapter on the basis that fake news was being spread based on those reports.

Minister Rambukwella has long been a Government spokesperson and often defends a bad brief. On this occasion however he took to his Twitter handle to appreciate WHO's swift action saying;

“Thanks to @WHOSriLanka for taking swift action to stem the spread of misinformation by certain parties. The spread of #fakenews seems more infectious than a global pandemic. I urge all stakeholders responsible for information dissemination to be responsible in their vocation."