Department of Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran , elhammaserat@gmail.com
Abstract: (1853 Views)
Dear Editor,
Shortly after the first outbreak in China, the Corona virus has affected many countries around the world. The first confirmed case of the virus in Iran was reported in Qom on February 2020, and then it spread to other cities in Iran. The outbreak has caused many social and economic challenges for the international community; also, there is no complete information about this disease.
One of the most important challenges is the prevalence of inaccurate information about the disease, which has many psychological, political, social and economic effects on society. Infodemic or the spread of wrong information about the disease through various social media in the global community is a serious problem for public health.
The dissemination of information can severely affect people's behavior and alter the effectiveness of governments’ countermeasures. In this present letter was reviewed integrated portal as a one of the solutions to infodemic management. The use of authentic sources to provide accurate information in the community is one of the best approaches to combat this phenomenon. Timely information sharing and comparison of epidemiological and genomic data on infectious diseases leads to faster and more efficient control of global outbreaks and disease tracking. In spite of all the problems in this area, various solutions have been proposed for this issue.
The portal is one of the significant technologies which provide correct and required data for different users. Web portals are increasingly becoming part of modern life. Portals collect uniform information from multiple sources and provide consistent access to multiple information, software and applications from different databases to organizations and community. Portal content is available from a variety of tools such as PCs and smartphones. For example, government web-portals can be used by public and private organizations. Many studies have confirmed the usefulness of portals for managing infectious and chronic diseases, if it is designed according users need.
The accurate and comprehensive information sharing with all stakeholders and health organizations such as WHO about Covid-19 is essential for better management of the disease.
One of the applications of portals is sharing of accurate and reliable information by responsible authorities for managing this disease. Justice must be respected in presenting results of recent research on Covid 19, and everyone has equal access to this information according to their role in society. By sharing the results of scientific research, the general public are also preparing themselves to fight the disease.
In recent days, various applications, soft wares and websites have been provided by the relevant organizations for the effective management of CVD 19. The integration of these technologies into comprehensive portal is essential for a comprehensive management of disease.
The portal will be accessible to public, patients, providers and policy makers. It can prepare educational, medical, and research information for users.
Some benefits of portal including information gathering from various sources, availability of information for all user groups (general and specific users), uploading information by users according to the access level, designing customized pages by users or groups, decreasing the attendance of patients and public in high risk areas, increasing information security, reducing people's confusion about finding the required information and facilitating communication.
Mohammadzadeh Z, Maserat E. The need for an integrated portal: Effective approach for infodemic management in Covid 19. Journal of Basic Research in Medical Sciences 2020; 7 (2) :69-70 URL: http://jbrms.medilam.ac.ir/article-1-484-en.html