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Chapter 3: Taking a glimpse into the health environment
about 80 percent in advanced economies).’ Word of mouth
continues to be very effective. It can be astonishingly fast
and uncannily durable, but it is also vulnerable to distortion
and misinformation.
Misinterpretation and misinformation
Each of these sources must be assessed and contextualised
against prevalent, prominent social, political and economic
factors. The facts and figures received will often be inconsistent
and sometimes conflicting. Most errors and contradictions
can be attributed to shortcomings in the capacity of
information sources, associated with misinterpretations,
typos and delays between the capture and dissemination
of information.
However, sometimes the errors can be more insidious. Deliberate
misinformation can be as simple as withholding key
facts and figures in the development and dissemination of
information. Information can be intentionally manipulated.
Misinformation, while most common in conflict scenarios,
is prevalent in many crises. Unscrupulous actors at any
level of civil society or government can exploit situations for
economic, social or political gain – especially in emergency
situations, where positions and power can change hands
very rapidly. Response missions are often key actors and risk
being co-opted to legitimise false or misleading information
to support the cause of unscrupulous actors. Even percep-