Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer supports a new Twitter feature which looks to provide “authoritative sources” on vaccines and vaccinations.
Dr. Robert Strang said that the new prompt, which was released last week by the social media company, could help combat vaccine hesitancy.
“With the resurgence of measles… I think it’s an important step,” said Dr. Strang. “I applaud Twitter… knowing that many people use social media to get information.”
READ MORE: How ‘vaccine hesitancy’ became a threat to public health
Certain keywords linked to vaccines or vaccination in the Twitter app will now prompt a link to the federal government’s health website.
In a release on its website, Twitters’ vice-president of trust and safety Del Harvey said that the company is committed to providing accurate information on vaccines.
“We understand the importance of vaccines in preventing illness and disease,” said Harvey. “(We) recognize the role that Twitter plays in disseminating important public health information.”
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Dr. Strang believes that more collaboration between the medical community and social media companies to provide accurate health information is a good thing.
“Anything that can be done to ensure that Canadians get accurate information is important… because of the consequences and harms of misinformation.”