The ongoing noise on social media after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox multi-country outbreak is a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ (PHEIC) is a clear example of the challenges our world faces when it comes to health communication. A quick look at the #monkepox hashtag is enough to realise that instead of a collective discussion on how to prevent the spread of the virus or help those affected by it has fragmented into a myriad of politicised narratives that I’d rather overlook here to focus on my argument. While my argument is far from straightforward (and what is these days?), the problem is somehow evidenced by the latest WHO statement that members within the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee ‘did not reach a consensus regarding their advice’. Digital communication platforms hinder focused health communication If we were in a world where public discussions about health were mostly mediated by mainstream media, we wo
A space on the communication of health and healthcare from a medical humanities perspective