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

Background

Online medical misinformation (infodemics) significantly impacts human life, affecting self-care choices and patient-healthcare-provider interactions. Online health information (OHI) enhances confidence, health literacy, and self-efficacy; however, challenges remain in ensuring the reliability of this information. Individuals seek OHI for diagnostic details and emotional support.¹ We live in an era overwhelmed by medical misinformation, with social media playing a key role in disseminating health information on health-related topics, including vaccination, chronic disease, and nutrition.² This necessitates an understanding of how demographic and belief systems contribute to the spread of misinformation. The Lancet's editorial emphasized that addressing medical misinformation requires addressing algorithmic manipulation.³ Although artificial intelligence (AI) can identify unscientific materials, it cannot replace fact-checking or source verification.³ The Global Risks Report 2024 identified AI-driven misinformation and societal polarization as key concerns and advocated international collaboration against emerging risks.⁴

Gaps in knowledge

Combating infodemics requires identifying sources and susceptible populations and countering false information with credible information. Public health messaging must be accurate while acknowledging uncertainties. Medical fraternities play a crucial role in combating health misinformation in India.³ The coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) State of Vaccine Confidence Insight Reporting System serves as a public health information and infodemic surveillance system.⁵ These systems monitor the landscape of medical information and detect infodemic events. In our interconnected world, developing systems for timely intervention against epidemics and infodemics is crucial.⁵ COVID-19 setbacks have highlighted how misinformation can lead to infection and distrust among the public. Information gaps are often filled with false content by disinformation propagators. Medical misinformation in digital landscapes poses a significant risk to public health. Despite efforts to address misinformation, current strategies require reassessment and improvement. We hypothesized that medical misinformation affects national security and necessitates coordination. There is a lack of analysis on effective interventions to promote accurate medical information, and understanding trustworthy information remains limited.

Aim of the review

This narrative review with a critical perspective analyses the evidence on managing infodemics, evaluates global and Indian interventions, examines the roles of stakeholders, and proposes suggestions to reduce the effects of infodemics in digital India.

Definitions

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “misinformation” as the spread of false information without the intent to mislead, and “disinformation” as information that is designed or spread with full knowledge of being false (information has been manipulated) as part of an intention to deceive and cause harm.⁶ The WHO defines an infodemic as the excessive dissemination of information in both digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak.⁷

Search strategy

The PubMed and Google Scholar databases were systematically searched using relevant keywords. The search combined Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms with keywords like “medical misinformation,” “health disinformation,” “infodemics,” “fact-checking,” and “intervention strategies.” The Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT were used to refine the search strategies. As the topic was novel, rather than following a strict systematic review protocol, we purposefully selected studies published in English between March 2019 and March 2025 based on their relevance to key themes such as global strategies, conceptual models, AI-based interventions, ethical considerations, the role of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and medical journalists, and the impact of media literacy to offer a multidisciplinary perspective on infodemic management.

Data extraction

Two independent researchers manually extracted data from the selected studies to ensure their accuracy and consistency. Any discrepancies in data extraction were resolved through discussion and consensus. Given the narrative nature of this review, a structured data extraction form was not used; However, efforts were made to comprehensively capture relevant details.

Data analysis

As this was a narrative review with a critical perspective, the qualitative synthesis identified recurring themes, intervention strategies, and common frameworks across the studies. No statistical or meta-analytical methods were used because the emphasis was on summarizing and contextualizing the existing literature rather than quantitatively comparing the outcomes.

Efforts by national and international organizations in combating infodemics

Johns Hopkins University created a national plan with four pillars to stop public health misinformation [Figure 1].

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Figure 1:

Global and National strategies to combat infodemics. Figure recreated from references 8–13. WHO: World Health Organization, UN: United Nations, UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, HCP: Health Care Professionals/Providers.

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Pillar 1: Intervene against false content by establishing a multi-agency security response and national commission to provide evidence-based guidance.⁸

Pillar 2: Promote actual information by prioritizing public health communication at all government levels through increased staffing and funding.⁸

Pillar 3: Increase public resilience through health literacy in schools and communities while developing fact-checking infrastructure.⁸

Pillar 4: Enable multisector collaboration in strategy development with stakeholders from the media, government, security, public health, and key agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Security Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency⁸ [Figure 1].

International organizations

The WHO launched an “international infodemiology program” similar to disease epidemiology. Like diseases, infodemics and their spread need attention to find solutions.⁹ In 2020, the WHO established “Fides,” a social media network of HCPs, to combat misinformation and support evidence-based health decisions.¹⁰ The United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) noted that the “infodemic points to a toxic dis-infodemic.”¹¹ [Figure 1].

National efforts - India

This infodemic poses a significant challenge to health journalism in India, as social media messages often originate from unverified sources. Data scientists analyze these messages using machine learning techniques¹² [Figure 1].

Balancing content quality and access pool in the digital town

Nan et al. (2023) proposed tackling health misinformation through supply and demand strategies. Supply-side efforts involve collective action from platforms, scientists, health professionals, and policymakers to reduce misinformation.¹³ Demand-side interventions aim to reduce public susceptibility through evidence-based methods and effective health communication¹³ [Figure 1].

Proposed models for combating infodemics

In 2024, Ishizumi et al. (2024) proposed a framework that incorporates upstream strategies and intervention guidance across four levels of public health prevention: primary, secondary, tertiary, and primordial. Based on a narrative review of 54 documents (including peer-reviewed and gray literature from 1961 to 2023), they provided examples for each prevention level.¹⁴ Similarly, Gupta et al. (2022) proposed a multimodal approach that incorporates user awareness, government legislation, and platform checks, such as user verification and news services endorsed by credible agencies, which can help manage infodemics¹⁵ [Figure 2].

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Figure 2:

Proposed strategy for fighting infodemic. Figure recreated from Ishizumi et al. and Gupta et al. DB-Dainik Bhaskar, RSS-Really simple syndication

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Role of the medical fraternity and healthcare communication stakeholders in combating infodemics

Medical journalists play a crucial role in interpreting scientific findings and communicating them clearly to counter misinformation and disinformation.¹⁶ They serve as a bridge between scientists and the public, ensuring that complex findings are communicated clearly and understandably. Collaboration among data journalists, scientists, decision-makers, and the public improves science communication.¹⁶ In India, family physicians serve as the primary gatekeepers for health and guide communities during infodemics by correcting health misinformation on social media platforms. A previous study by Bautista et al. (2021) presented a two-phase model: authentication through verifying posts and authors, followed by preparing and disseminating corrections.¹⁷ The U.S. The Surgeon General recommends engaging with patients by understanding their beliefs, correcting misinformation, promoting health literacy, sharing accurate information through professional associations, and partnering with community groups to deliver targeted messages.¹⁸ Media literacy refers to the ability to evaluate information and distinguish between harmful and beneficial content critically. Berger et al. (2025) demonstrated that fact-checking is only effective for specific corrections, whereas media literacy helps differentiate between fake and factual information more broadly. Media literacy enables critical evaluation, whereas fact-checking makes users passive recipients¹⁹ [Figure 3].

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Figure 3:

Role of HCPs/Doctors, media literacy, and medical journalists in combating infodemics. Figure recreated from references 16–19. HCPs-Healthcare professionals.

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Key Message

• Effective infodemic management requires a coordinated, multi-level approach involving global frameworks, national strategies, and community-based efforts.

• HCPs, medical journalists, and media literacy education play crucial roles in translating evidence and correcting misinformation.

• The proposed integrated framework combines policy measures, AI-driven detection, public education, and trust-building strategies at both the systemic and individual levels.

• Transparent communication through verified medical news platforms is key to combating misinformation and encouraging public participation in health decisions.

Strengths and limitations

This review synthesizes key infodemic management strategies for combating medical misinformation and disinformation, including surveillance, AI interventions, and fact-checking mechanisms based on various frameworks and reviews. However, this review has some limitations. Most of the included studies were from high-income countries, with limited data from low- and middle-income countries, including India. Despite the substantial burden of medical misinformation during public health crises, research on infodemic management in India is limited. Future research should focus on real-world evaluations of the proposed frameworks, particularly in underserved regions, and develop culturally competent India-centric frameworks to improve infodemic preparedness. Additionally, research should examine Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception assessments among the general public, HCPs, and medical journalists to better inform India-specific strategies for controlling infodemics.