At a clinic in Mumbai during the final years of Médecins Sans Frontières’ (Doctors Without Borders) tuberculosis project—before it shut down in December 2024—a health educator sat with a small group of patients, gently addressing their fears.
One woman, visibly anxious, shared what she’s heard: TB is a curse. It’s untreatable, and going to the clinic will only shame her family.
She had seen the warnings in forwarded WhatsApp messages, heard the whispers in her neighbourhood, and even watched a video online claiming treatment is a trap.
Fear is real, but trust in facts has eroded.
In the absence of clear, consistent information, misinformation fills the void. What people hear most on social media or in communities starts to feel true, no matter how baseless.
This erosion of trust puts individual and public health at risk. When fear overrides facts, people may delay or reject treatment, skip life-saving vaccines, and make decisions that leave themselves and others exposed to preventable diseases.
Misinformation, the Other Epidemic
Scenes like this continue to play out across South Asia, where public health workers fight not just disease, but a parallel epidemic of misinformation that undermines every evidence-based effort. Their tools aren’t just medicines and diagnostics, but trust, patience, and relentless education.
Health misinformation takes many forms—from vaccine hesitancy to social stigma, misuse of medication, and reluctance to seek care. But the consequences are often the same: diseases become more entrenched, complications worsen, and lives are lost.
In 2024 Misinformation and disinformation were ranked by the World Economic Forum as the most severe short-term global threats, surpassing climate disasters and armed conflict.
The digital age has opened the floodgates to self-proclaimed cure-sellers online. From unproven herbal remedies to miracle tonics, misinformation is now marketed with ease. Evidence-based medicine is under siege.
In India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, misinformation doesn’t just sway opinion, it distorts reality. Deepfakes, AI propaganda, and bot farms are fueling coordinated campaigns that erode public trust in science.
This moment isn’t just about viral rumours or misleading headlines, it’s a global emergency. One that weakens health systems, destabilises trust, and turns preventable illnesses into deadly crises.
Not Just Noise. It’s Violence.
In northern Pakistan, a young health worker begins her polio vaccination round not just with a cooler of vaccines, but under the weight of fear. Rumours, fueled by social media and messaging apps, claim the vaccine is part of a foreign sterilisation plot.
Her colleagues have faced harassment, threats, and even fatal attacks. Yet she continues, door to door, determined to protect children.
Her struggle mirrors a broader crisis across South Asia.
In Pakistan, repeated disinformation campaigns have derailed polio eradication efforts for years. As a result, dozens of polio cases continue to emerge annually, and health workers remain at constant risk over 100 have been killed in targeted attacks since 2012.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a tidal wave of conspiracy theories spread through social media, undermined vaccine campaigns and promoted false cures.
In India, over 200,000 additional deaths were estimated during the Delta wave in 2021, many due to delayed treatment and low vaccine uptake, both worsened by viral misinformation.
This is not just about rumors or skepticism, it is about a parallel epidemic of falsehoods that infect trust, endanger lives, and unravel decades of public health progress.
Misinformation Amplifies Stigma and Isolation
In Mumbai, a young man diagnosed with tuberculosis stops going to the clinic. He fears social rejection; his neighbour warned him that TB is incurable and shameful. Misinformation also isolates, because instead of support, he’s met with silence.
In humanitarian crises like the conflict in Gaza, it is not just misinformation, but deliberate disinformation that spreads.
False narratives about health workers and medical facilities circulated through media and online platforms have made them more digestible targets for military attacks.
This targeted disinformation not only endangers lives but erodes the neutrality of healthcare itself.
In a context where emergency response depends on trust and protection under international law, disinformation weaponises perception, paralyses coordination, and puts both patients and providers at grave risk.
Combating Lies with Evidence and Outreach
At MSF, we see the consequences of health misinformation daily. That is why health promotion rooted in evidence, clarity, and community connection is central to our work.
In our projects across, Bihar and Manipur, we conduct outreach on HIV and co-infections, countering stigma and disinformation with facts.
In Chhattisgarh, we run community programs on hygiene and primary healthcare.
In Kashmir, we speak openly about mental health, working to normalise conversations around a subject long buried in silence.
In South Africa, we launched a digital health promotion campaign to counter misinformation on Mpox.
Using local languages and catering to the needs of local communities, we proactively engage affected people not just to inform, but to empower.
This model of digital health promotion, whether via social media platforms is one of the most promising tools we have against the viral spread of health lies. But we cannot make it alone.
Rebuilding Trust Through Collective Action
South Asia offers both a stark warning and a pathway forward. It is time to treat access to truth as a global public good.
The World Economic Forum’s warning is clear and urgent. Governments trying to legislate against fake news must tread carefully.
In too many cases, efforts to curb misinformation have led to sweeping censorship and digital surveillance, suppressing free expression and driving mistrust deeper. Regulation must safeguard both truth and freedom.
Technology companies, meanwhile, have shirked responsibility for far too long. Some have even disbanded fact-checking teams and downplayed efforts to reduce harmful content in the name of “free speech” or profit. This is unacceptable.
Big Tech must act responsibly: enforce stronger safeguards, invest in algorithmic transparency, and elevate fact-based content over outrage and virality.
We must invest in community-based health education, protect independent journalism, and build coalitions that defend the right to evidence-based information.
Individuals also bear the responsibility to checking information sources before passing on to their circles. This could save lives.
At MSF, we remain committed to fighting disinformation through every channel available to us, from health promotion campaigns to community outreach and digital engagement. But we cannot do this alone. Truth is not a luxury. It is the foundation of public health, dignity, and survival. We must defend it together.
(Farhat Mantoo is the Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders South Asia. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)