How can we build better resilience?

What is the role of libraries and information professionals to empower individuals to know whether information is reliable or unreliable?

How can they be empowered to step up to take a leading role in finding solutions?

Is the traditional LIS goal of increasing health literacy likely to succeed in an age of constant access to information, amplified by the individuals’ chosen echo chambers?

Are librarians and information professionals doing enough to signpost reliable healthcare information, particularly online, and to flag misinformation on social media?
 

JOIN US on the first day of  IFLA Congress 17 August 2021,
right after the Opening Ceremony
Provocation: 8:30 am – 9:15 am BST [See the time where you are]
Q&A session: 9:15 am – 9:45 am BST [See the time where you are]

 

 

In this provocation session we will look at the potential (and limitations) of different approaches from a variety of perspectives.
These will include considering what responsibility should be held by governments and international human rights organizations to develop policies that protects citizens from misinformation.
Whether governments should have a legal obligation to ensure citizens have access to reliable healthcare information, or heads of state be held accountable for ignoring public health evidence. This is a moral imperative. Never before have citizens been so aware of the need for reliable information, and yet so vulnerable to misinformation.

Panelists will debate these and other issues and invite discussion from participants in a Question and Answer session.

Access to health information as a human right: A global call to action and practical steps

Moderator: Anne Brice, Convenor of IFLA E4GDH SIG. Head of Knowledge Management for Public Health England.

Neil Pakenham-Walsh, coordinator of the HIFA global health movement (Healthcare Information For All – www.hifa.org) – a global community with more than 20,000 members in 180 countries
The role of the state in ensuring citizens have access to reliable health information

Margaret Zimmerman, Assistant Professor in the School of Information at Florida State University.
Health information access as a human right

Ola El Zein, Head, Saab Medical Library – American University of Beirut
Building a public resource centre for credible information

Blessing Mawire, Director and Senior Consultant – Integra Professional Solutions, Pretoria, South Africa
Adaptation of Information Professionals in the evolving global health needs

Join the Discussion!
Bob Gann, Digital Inclusion Specialist currently working with the UK National Health Service, will facilitate the Question and Answer session that follows our provocation