How to Combat Health Misinformation?

On Tuesday, 12 May 2026, Professor André Pereira Neto from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation visited the Faculty of Social Sciences as part of the Open Term for Science. His research focuses on the impact of the internet on the relationship between doctors and patients, as well as on the quality of online health information.

He presented a methodology for evaluating online health information based on scientifically verified medical sources. Using the example of visceral leishmaniasis, one of the most widespread neglected diseases in the world, he demonstrated how the reliability of information published on the websites of international non-governmental organisations and the Brazilian Ministry of Health can be assessed. The analysis showed that none of the evaluated websites achieved more than 50% compliance with the applied indicators.

André Pereira Neto is a researcher in the field of communication and health at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). He is also a professor in the postgraduate programme Information and Communication in Health at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. His work focuses on the impact of the internet on doctor–patient relationships and on evaluating the quality of online health information. He is one of the editors of the book The Internet and Health in Brazil: Challenges and Trends.