The guides provide practical tools for key audiences — including health workers, national immunisation program managers, health communicators, journalists, educators, and content creators — to strengthen their capacity to recognise and counter false or misleading messages about vaccines.
“Studies have shown that exposure to vaccine misinformation, even for a short period of time, can negatively influence people’s perceptions and their decision to get vaccinated,” said Daniel Salas, executive manager of the Special Program for Comprehensive Immunization al PAHO. “Even individuals who have been vaccinated in the past can be negatively influenced by misinformation.”
The documents outline common strategies used to spread false information, such as using data without scientific evidence, appealing to strong emotions, promoting conspiracy theories, discrediting experts or institutions, and selectively using true information to make false claims appear legitimate. They also offer guidance on identifying red flags in misleading materials, including frequent spelling or grammatical errors, sensationalist headlines, and the excessive use of capital letters or exclamation marks.
Given the vital role that health workers play as the most trusted source of information on immunisation, the materials include recommendations on how to respond with empathy and transparency to patients who express doubts or fears due to misinformation. PAHO has also developed tailored guidance for journalists, offering suggestions on how to provide balanced, evidence-based coverage of vaccination while avoiding the inadvertent spread of anti-science narratives. For educators, the guides propose classroom activities to help strengthen students’ media, digital, and health literacy, encouraging them to critically assess the information they encounter on social media and other platforms.
The guidelines emphasise that combating misinformation must go hand-in-hand with broader efforts to build trust and increase vaccination coverage. “Human behaviour is complex, and while addressing misinformation is essential, it’s not a silver bullet,” Salas explained. “In areas with low coverage, we encourage countries to apply tools such as microplanning and the guidance on social and behavioural drivers of vaccination to gain a deeper understanding of community perceptions, social norms, and potential logistical barriers.”
Through the publication of these new guides, PAHO aims to support countries of the Americas in strengthening vaccine confidence, reinforcing national immunisation programs, and sustaining the region’s long-standing leadership in vaccination—one of the greatest public health achievements in the Americas.
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