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Pour ma part, je pense, une fois de plus, que nous n’allons nulle part en limitant la discussion à la nature du net et des TIC. Se demander s’ils sont bons ou mauvais ne mène à rien car la réponse est toujours “les deux”. La question est d’apprendre à les utiliser et, pour une institution comme l’OMS, de modifier la politique de communication traditionnelle pour l’adapter à un univers dans lequel l’information n’est plus contrôlable. C’est en qualifiant la H1N1 de “Pandémie de niveau 6″ que l’OMS a excité la machine aux rumeurs mais aussi aux appréciations différentes sur la nature de la menace. C’est la faute à personne. C’est le contexte qui change et il faut apprendre à communiquer différemment.
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World Health Organisation influenza chief Keiji Fukuda told 29 health experts reviewing the international response to the pandemic that the Internet had added a new dimension to flu alerts over the past year.
While it meant information about swine flu became more widely available, it also produced “news, rumours, a great deal of speculation and criticism in multiple outlets,” including blogs, social networking and websites, he said.
“Anti-vaccine messaging was very active, made it very difficult for public health services in many countries,” Fukuda said as a nine-month review of the A(H1N1) flu pandemic got under way.
Several governments have been trying to cancel orders for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of special swine flu vaccines.
Mass vaccination campaigns in Europe last year fell flat amid public doubts about the value of immunisation because of milder than expected swine flu symptoms, speculation about the safety of the vaccine and concern about the influence of the pharmaceutical industry.
Fukuda also pinpointed the speed with which information spread and its influence on “volatile” public opinion, admitting that the WHO had struggled to find the “right tempo” for communications.
(…)
World Health Organisation influenza chief Keiji Fukuda told 29 health experts reviewing the international response to the pandemic that the Internet had added a new dimension to flu alerts over the past year.
While it meant information about swine flu became more widely available, it also produced “news, rumours, a great deal of speculation and criticism in multiple outlets,” including blogs, social networking and websites, he said.
“Anti-vaccine messaging was very active, made it very difficult for public health services in many countries,” Fukuda said as a nine-month review of the A(H1N1) flu pandemic got under way.
Several governments have been trying to cancel orders for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of special swine flu vaccines.
Mass vaccination campaigns in Europe last year fell flat amid public doubts about the value of immunisation because of milder than expected swine flu symptoms, speculation about the safety of the vaccine and concern about the influence of the pharmaceutical industry.
Fukuda also pinpointed the speed with which information spread and its influence on “volatile” public opinion, admitting that the WHO had struggled to find the “right tempo” for communications.
