Lessons Covid Taught Us? “We must fight disinformation” was the message of the debate of the Ministers of Health at the Zdravotnický deník Economics of Prevention Conference
The debate on the issue of the role of member states in fulfilling European priorities. From the left, Vladimír Lengvarský, the Slovak Minister of Health, discussion compere and publisher of Zdravotnický deník, Ivo Hartmann, the Czech Minister of Health, Vlastimil Válek, and the Director of the Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna (General Health Insurance Company), Zdeněk Kabátek. Photo: Stanislav Pecháček
Adequate communication and fighting disinformation are the essential steps we need to take to help us increase the vaccination rate. So agreed the ministers of health of the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Austria, Latvia, and Estonia at the 2nd Annual International Panel of the Zdravotnický deník Economics of Prevention Conference held in Prague this Tuesday. Vaccination is the pillar of preventive measures and supporting it will help save great financial resources in the future, not only in healthcare. For this to happen, it is necessary to gain the trust of people so that they will let themselves be vaccinated.
“The Covid pandemic lead to a situation that we had yet to experience. A serious, extremely virulent disease that has fatal consequences and grave complications has a solution, i.e., vaccination. In the past two years, experts, scientists, and politicians have found themselves in the situation where they had to re-evaluate the number of doses necessary for immunity, and each country took its own path. However, Covid proved that vaccination is one of the pillars of prevention and protection. Therefore, we would now like to discuss vaccination programmes in general. We should debate about the availability of vaccinations for all EU citizens, as well as the availability of modern vaccinations not only against Covid. As one of the pillars of prevention, vaccinations should be safe, available, and free of charge,” said the Czech Minister of Health, Vlastimil Válek.
Currently, the vaccination situation in Slovakia is actually a bit worse than in our country. According to the Slovak Minister of Health, Vladimír Lengvarský, the problem is that the population lacks awareness on the subject beginning already in childhood. “When I perused the textbooks of my daughter, who just started the fifth grade in primary school, there is nothing on prevention, a healthy lifestyle, not to mention anything about vaccination. And this is where we must begin, so that people can prepare themselves to confront such information that is the complete opposite of what they learned in school, and so that they are ready to argue,” Lengvarský underscores the importance of being able to fight disinformation.
At the same time, he says that it is necessary that healthcare cooperates with other resorts and institutions so that the approach is unified, and that people have access to the same information. Understandably, this also includes agreement between doctors and healthcare workers – which has sometimes proven to be problematic.
“During Covid, we unfortunately experienced that our doctors and healthcare workers shared opinions that questioned the importance of vaccination as one of the pillars of fighting Covid. It was extremely difficult to disprove these opinions, and they greatly influenced the public opinion. It was then difficult to convince people when they responded: but my doctor told me something else. Cooperation in the professional, educational, and intersectoral fields is thus the most crucial factor allowing us to be successful in vaccinating,” Lengvarský added.
Eastern Europe has a Low Trust Level in Vaccinations, Science, and the Government
How to effectively communicate with the public and provide it with adequate information on vaccination is a huge issue also according to other ministers of health. “Immunization programmes have proven to be very economically effective. It is necessary to take into consideration not only the direct savings on medicine and treatments, but also indirect savings, such as reducing the number of incapacities for work. As for the issue of vaccination, it should be the main point of the informative measures of open, transparent, and understandable communication. Aside from active communication aimed at the target group, it is necessary to also ensure the basic, simple, low-threshold access to information,” said the Minister of Social Affairs, Health, and Consumer Care and Protection of Austria, Johannes Rauch.
During the Covid pandemic, Latvia followed the example of Austria. “Thanks to this, we rank at the top in terms of vaccination. However, we can see a correlation in Eastern Europe. In contrast to Western Europe, there was a low trust level not only in the vaccine, but also in science, medicine, and the government. We are dealing with a problem that is wider than health literacy, however, it remains a critical issue that also speaks of the general education level of adults. Nevertheless, it is not just our own society that has various historical reasons for tending to be superstitious. We are facing active steps taken by another country that is attempting to undermine our democracy. The same disinformation channels and people are spreading lies not only about vaccinations, but also about how Ukrainians themselves bombed Mariupol. We must therefore also implement a strategy for active communication. One of the toughest lessons we learned was that the population does not need more and more information, but that we must fight disinformation,” the Latvian Minister of Health, Daniels Pavļuts, emphasised.
According to him, thanks to Covid, it is necessary to rework campaigns and massively digitalise, which also applies to other types of vaccinations. Thus, according to Pavļuts, Europe is headed in the right direction in terms of using Covid Passports, although this need not be compulsory.
The Minister of Health and Labour of Estonia, Peep Peterson, also emphasises the importance of fighting disinformation. “We have nine percent of people who believe that the Earth is flat. At the same time, they attended school, and I believe that the quality of our educational system is good. When we began vaccinating, the people who came were those who believed the government. However, I am sure that those who believe the Earth is flat activated their accounts and began spreading disinformation. Why? Various groups exist. Last spring, we discovered that this nine percent is hopeless and that there is no chance of success with them. Then there is the group of those who are hesitant, and the question is, who will they heed – their friend, their physician, or their colleague at work? As the government, we must work to address various groups of the population and utilise various tools. When fighting mistrust, we cannot provide everyone with the same information,” Peterson stated.
The Next Step Forward is Joint Purchases
That it is necessary to rebuild trust in vaccinations was also agreed upon at the informal meeting of the EU Ministers of Health, held in Prague on Wednesday (more here). The European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) negotiated with the heads of the companies BioNTech, Pfizer, and Moderna in the presence of the ministers of health about determining present and future contracts for the joint supply of Covid vaccines. One of the conclusions is that after 19 September, only the newest types of vaccines will be supplied. The importance of a joint approach across Europe in some purchases was also emphasised by Latvian minister Pavļuts at the 2nd Annual International Panel of the Zdravotnický deník Economics of Prevention Conference.
“The issue is the narrower cooperation in the field of various technologies, which is an area where the EU could do much more in the future. We are working on cooperating as a coordinated purchaser, thus making headway especially in terms of the Covid vaccine. Imagine that we would now purchase natural gas in the same way we purchased vaccines – we would be better off,” Daniels Pavļuts added.
The publishers of Zdravotnický deník are grateful for the support of the International Panel by the general partners of the conference, the Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna (General Health Insurance Company), the companies OR CZ, CCA Group, and MyCom, and the partners Zdravotní pojišťovna Ministerstva vnitra ČR (The Health Insurance Company of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic) and Vojenská zdravotní pojišťovna (Military Health Insurance Company).
Photo: Stanislav Pecháček
Michaela Koubová
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Michaela Koubová
