Standing STRONGER against vaccine misinformation

Today, the Public Good Projects (PGP) launched a national public health campaign called STRONGER—a first-of-its-kind effort designed to combat the spread of vaccine misinformation online. 

What it is: STRONGER provides a guide for individuals to combat misinformation, explaining how to spot it, and then block, hide, report, or respond to false posts with facts and a list of trusted experts as a resource for good information on vaccines on social media.

Why it matters: In the United States, the recommended immunization series prevents approximately 33,000 deaths each year, from diseases like measles or seasonal flu. The spread of false information threatens the use of vaccines—and could mean more illness or death from vaccine-preventable diseases.

What they’re saying: “Stronger’s mission is to help people recognize and react to misinformation. There are things each person can do to make the situation better; if a whole lot of people do those things, change comes faster and is more widespread,” said Dr. Joe Smyser, CEO of Public Good Projects, the public health nonprofit leading the effort.  

Phyllis’ Philosophy: While vaccines play a vital role in protecting public health, we have seen a lot of misinformation grow about their safety, efficacy, and impact. That is why BIO has long supported infectious disease prevention, working tirelessly to educate the public and policymakers on the positive impact of vaccines across our work with companies, philanthropic partners, and non-governmental organizations. And that is why BIO is proud to stand with STRONGER. – Phyllis Arthur, BIO’s VP of Infectious Diseases and Diagnostics Policy 

Stand with BIO as we stand with STRONGER. Learn more at www.stronger.org.

More Health Care News: 

STAT News: First data for Moderna COVID-19 vaccine show it spurs an immune response
“The study, which was run by the National Institutes of Health, showed that volunteers who received the vaccine made more neutralizing antibodies than have been seen in most patients who have recovered from COVID-19. But a second injection, four weeks after the first, was required before the vaccine produced a dramatic immune response.” 

African swine fever is “surging in some parts of southern China following heavy rains,” reports Reuters—a prime example of the need for improvements in the animal biotech regulatory system.

African swine fever doesn’t affect human health, but it’s fatal for pigs. “China’s hog herd, by far the world’s largest, shrank last year by around 180 million pigs, or 40%, after the incurable disease decimated farms,” explains Reuters

And what’s bad for pigs is bad for the economy. A recent Iowa State University study estimates that an African swine fever outbreak in the United States could cost $50 billion. 

Animal biotech could help. Genetic innovation in animals can help prevent and respond to infectious disease, by making pigs resistant to African swine fever, as just one example.

But animal biotech regulation needs modernization. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current regulatory structure puts an entirely new generation of technology at risk and threatens to drive research, jobs, and innovation overseas.

Recently, during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Iowa Pork Producers President Michael Paustian called for “moving oversight of gene-edited livestock on American farms from the FDA to the USDA” to “allow U.S. agriculture to maintain its global edge.”

We say: BIO and other stakeholders support a joint agreement between federal agencies whereby the USDA leads regulatory oversight of biotechnology-derived food animals and the FDA leads oversight of non-food and biomedical animals. 

Want to know more? Check out BIO’s new animal biotech issue brief to learn more about how genetic innovation in animals could improve human and animal health, make our farming and food systems more sustainable, and boost our bioeconomy.