http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a MSN - AP World Copyright © 2010-2018 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Wed, 02 Jul 2025 02:26:59 +0000 http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a/25451f8899da434da023e3ac4b3b990b U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling for a national effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, urging tech companies, health care workers, and everyday Americans to do more to address an “urgent threat” to public health. (July 15) 25451f8899da434da023e3ac4b3b990b Thu, 15 Jul 2021 19:44:45 +0000 SHOTLIST:RESTRICTION SUMMARY:US NETWORK POOLWashington, DC - 15 July 20211. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General:"Today, we live in a world where misinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat to our nation's health.2. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General:"During the COVID-19 pandemic, health misinformation has led people to resist wearing masks in high risk settings. It's led them to turn down proven treatments and to choose not to get vaccinated. This has led to avoidable illnesses and death. Simply put, health information has cost us lives."3. Cutaway of press4. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General:"Modern technology companies have enabled misinformation to poison our information environment with little accountability to their users. They've allowed people to intentionally spread misinformation, what we call disinformation, to have extraordinary reach. They've designed product features such as like buttons that reward us for sharing emotionally charged content, not accurate content. And their algorithms tend to give us more of what we click on, pulling us deeper and deeper into a well of misinformation. Now we need an all of society approach to fight misinformation."5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General:"On a personal note, it's painful for me to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from COVID-19 could have been prevented. I say that as someone who has lost 10 family members to COVID-19 and who wishes each and every day that they had had the opportunity to get vaccinated."6. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General:"Every week I talk to doctors and nurses across our country who are burning out as they care for more and more patients with COVID-19 who never got vaccinated all too often because they were misled by misinformation. We must confront misinformation as a nation. Every one of us has the power and the responsibility to make a difference in this fight. Lives are depending on it."STORYLINE:U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday called for a national effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, urging tech companies, health care workers, journalists and everyday Americans to do more to address an “urgent threat” to public health.In a 22-page advisory, his first as President Joe Biden’s surgeon general, Murthy wrote that bogus claims have led people to reject vaccines and public health advice on masks and social distancing, undermining efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic and putting lives at risk.The warning comes as the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed throughout the U.S., in part because of vaccine opposition fueled by unsubstantiated claims about the safety of immunizations and despite the U.S. death toll recently passing 600,000.Murthy, who also served as surgeon general under President Barack Obama, noted that surgeon general advisories have typically focused on physical threats to health, such as tobacco. Misinformation about COVID-19, deemed an “infodemic” by the World Health Organization, can be just as deadly, he said.“Misinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat to our nation's health,” Murthy said during remarks to reporters Thursday at the White House. “We must confront misinformation as a nation. Lives are depending on it.”Given the role the internet plays in spreading health misinformation, Murthy said technology companies and social media platforms must make meaningful changes to their products and software to reduce the spread of misinformation while increasing access to authoritative, fact-based sources.Too often, he said, the platforms are built to encourage, not counter, the spread of misinformation.“We are asking them to step up,” Murthy said. "We can't wait longer for them to take aggressive action.”===========================================================Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com(ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling for a national effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, urging tech companies, health care workers, and everyday Americans to do more to address an “urgent threat” to public health. (July 15) Surgeon general: Health misinformation costs lives