Dr Netha Hussain, a clinical neuroscientist and researcher, has been relentlessly waging a war against misinformation and fake news regarding Covid-19.
Focussing on the impact of the Coronavirus on vulnerable individuals such as pregnant women, Dr Hussain has recently launched a timely project to combat misinformation by improving information and content around the Covid-19 vaccine, TOI reported.
Dr Hussain started the project when she realized that misinformation regarding the pandemic was rampant and required serious redressal. Thus, she came forward and started countering misinformation by creating a page like ‘list of unproven methods against the Covid-19 and ‘misinformation related to vaccination. Moreover, she launched the ‘vaccine safety project’ in August last year to plug the knowledge gaps.
“Nowadays, people go online to search for healthcare-related information and land on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that provides healthcare-related information. If the readers do not find what they are searching for, they switch to social media and blogs where misinformation is rampant,” Dr Hussain was quoted as stating. And often she finds friends thanking her when they benefit from articles that she has worked on and improved. Hussain is proud of the fact that prominent medical journals also have used her content.
Interestingly, Dr Hussain is an active contributor to Wikipedia. She has been working on projects in English as well as Malayalam related to medicine, healthcare, and women’s biographies for a decade now.
She has also written several articles analysing the medical aspects and socio-economic impact of the pandemic on Wikipedia, one of the most popular websites (as per research) created and edited by volunteers around the world, and was recognised for her efforts by the United Nations in July 2020.
The Kerala-based doctor moved to Sweden in 2016 to pursue her PhD in clinical neuroscience from the University of Gothenburg post completion of her medical studies at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode. As a medical professional, Dr Hussain is a member of the editorial team of WikiJournal of Medicine and has partnered with medical institutions for content donation.
