WMA Statement on Addressing False Health Information

Adopted by the 77th WMA General Assembly, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, October 2026

PREAMBLE

False health information poses a serious threat to patient safety and public health. When inaccurate claims spread, people may reject proven treatments, postpone necessary care, discontinue evidence-based treatment, or adopt harmful practices. These choices put patients at risk and weaken broader health efforts. They can erode trust in medical professionals and the information they communicate, and reduce the effectiveness of the health system. In an era of rapid information exchange, the spread of false health information can amplify risks during health emergencies, interfere with health prevention policies, such as vaccination efforts, and exacerbate preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide

Providing and disseminating reliable and evidence-based health information is an ethical duty for physicians. Core principles of medical ethics, such as beneficence, justice, non-maleficence, and respect for autonomy, are jeopardised when patients make decisions based on false health information. Physicians have an important role in helping patients navigate health information, addressing false health information, and guiding patients toward evidence-based care. This duty applies regardless of the source of false health information, including official, institutional, or governmental sources.

The term ‘false health information’ is used in this statement to refer to all inaccurate health claims without needing to determine intent. It avoids the distinction between misinformation (false information shared unknowingly) and disinformation (false information shared deliberately), which can be difficult to assess and can distract from the goal of addressing harmful inaccuracies. Intent may, however, become relevant when professional, regulatory, or organisational bodies assess accountability for the dissemination of false health information.

Legitimate scientific debate is distinct from false health information. Scientific knowledge is provisional and advances through the questioning of prevailing views, the testing of new hypotheses, and the careful examination of emerging evidence. Physicians may express evidence-based positions that diverge from prevailing professional consensus, when they do so in good faith and are transparent about the state of the evidence, the degree of uncertainty, and whether the position reflects established guidance, emerging evidence, clinical judgment, or hypothesis. Presenting speculation, unsupported claims, or preliminary views as established fact may constitute the dissemination of false health information.

While false health information affects all populations, its harms can disproportionately impact marginalised groups. Communities with limited access to reliable health resources, lower health literacy, or systemic barriers to care are more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. These groups often face compounded risks, as structural inequities make it harder to verify credible sources or access timely interventions, thus violating the principle of equitable access to care. As a result, false health information deepens existing health disparities, perpetuates inequity, and places already disadvantaged populations at greater risk of adverse health outcomes.

Social media platforms have become major drivers of false health information, enabling rapid and widespread dissemination across borders. Algorithms designed to maximise engagement often prioritise sensational or misleading content, allowing false health information to quickly reach wide audiences. Unlike traditional media, these platforms lack consistent mechanisms for verifying accuracy, creating an environment where unvetted claims can overshadow evidence-based guidance. Emerging AI tools now enable the rapid creation, personalization, and mass dissemination of false health information and medical deepfakes at unprecedented scale, increasing the risk that misinformation will grow more sophisticated, harder to detect, and more pervasive as these technologies continue to advance.

Technology companies that operate social media platforms, conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, and chatbots bear significant responsibility for mitigating the spread of false health information. Their systems and algorithms shape what users see and share, giving these companies considerable influence over public discourse. Ethical stewardship requires implementing robust and transparent measures to identify, limit, and /or remove false health information. It also involves proactively labelling or promoting validated health information from recognised medical and institutional sources.

Given the global nature of digital false health information amplified through social media, combating false health information requires a coordinated international response. The WMA, global health governance institutions, regional and national health authorities, national medical organisations, physicians and other stakeholders must work together to share accurate, evidence-based information and actively counter false health information and the systems that produce it. This collaboration should include building mechanisms for collaboration and fostering joint advocacy to ensure timely, credible health information reaches all populations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The World Medical Association sets forth the following recommendations to actively combat false health information and strengthen trustworthy health communication worldwide, underscoring that physicians, as stated in the WMA’s International Code of Medical Ethics, have an ethical duty to provide scientifically accurate and accessible information to their patients and the public.

For Physicians:

2. Provide evidence-informed opinions consistent with current scientific evidence, clinical guidelines and professionally accepted standards when interpreting scientific knowledge with individual patients, to the public, or when appearing in media. When an opinion contrary to the accepted views of the profession is presented, or where uncertainties exist, this should be clearly stated.
3. Maintain an environment of trust that enables patients to discuss the health information they have encountered.
4. Take reasonable steps to correct false health information when encountered in clinical, public, and other professional settings.
5. Contribute to countering false health information in the media, as it can result in negative health outcomes for patients and communities.
6. Promote health literacy and knowledge with individual patients and in public settings by using objective, accessible, and evidence-based messages in accordance with the principles in the WMA Declaration of Geneva, the WMA International Code of Medical Ethics, the WMA Declaration of Lisbon and the WMA Statement on Healthcare Information for All.
7. Use social media responsibly and refrain from sharing speculative health claims that could weaken public trust in the medical profession.
8. Report false health information through appropriate channels when warranted.
9. Act with mindful awareness of the ways marginalised groups can be disproportionately affected by false health information.
10. Encourage fellow physicians to uphold their professional and ethical duties when communicating health information and engage with them when they disseminate false health information in any media and report ongoing and/or deliberate instances of such conduct to the relevant authorities.

For WMA constituent members and other medical associations:

11. Develop awareness campaigns to maintain and support measures to strengthen the role of medical associations as trusted sources and channels for reliable health information, promoting evidence-based healthcare, and addressing nationally specific health needs, such as:

• Creating and/or contributing to centralised, easily accessible resource hubs with verified, plain-language health information for members and the public.
• Promoting public awareness campaigns to counter false health information.
• Supporting health literacy programs in formal education and community settings and promoting these programmes to help individuals identify and resist false health information and understand how it spreads.
• Calling for regulatory measures that limit financial incentives and minimise profiteering from disinformation campaigns.
• Ensuring licensing boards have the authority to take disciplinary action against health professionals for intentionally spreading false health information and affirming that all communication in which a health professional is utilizing their credentials is professional conduct and can be scrutinised by their licensing entity.
• Working with public health agencies to establish relationships with journalists and news agencies to enhance the public reach in disseminating accurate medical and public health information.
• Engaging with publishers, research institutions and media organisations to ensure evidence-based medical and public health information is accessible by developing best practices around paywalls and preprints.

12. Encourage, develop, and/or provide training/toolkits/continuing education for physicians to address false health information during patient interactions and/or in media, and for ethical and responsible use of social media.
13. Provide points of contact, or other existing resources published by credible authorities, to physicians seeking guidance on the handling of false health information.
14. Engage with social media platforms to support the dissemination of accurate and reliable health information.
15. Strengthen relationships with a broad range of communities and work with patient organisations to amplify accurate health information.

For National health authorities:

16. Develop strategies to combat false health information, including establishing observatories, content monitoring and analysis, and institutional partnerships.
17. Actively engage with social media platforms to ensure:

• Rapid reporting mechanisms to remove harmful content and medical deepfakes quickly.
• Acknowledgement of their public health responsibility to protect public health and to actively counter false health information on their platforms.
• Algorithmic and artificial intelligence transparency, including labelling false health information and clear disclosure when content is generated by artificial intelligence.

18. Promote and implement labelling mechanisms for reliable health information sources.
19. Limit the economic incentives that encourage the spread of false health information by influencers on social media platforms.
20. Explore appropriate legal action against non-compliant platforms.
21. In alignment with the WMA Declaration on Pseudoscience and Pseudo-therapies in the Field of Health, support efforts to combat pseudoscience and pseudo-therapies as significant sources of false health information.
22. Work collaboratively with marginalised communities to foster trust, support health equity, and co-develop means of accessing reliable health information.

For the World Medical Association and Global Health Community:

23. Encourage global knowledge exchanges, including the sharing of best practices and lessons learned across WMA member organisations, and other relevant stakeholders in the health sector.
24. Support the development of collaborative initiatives to amplify evidence-based health information online, building on existing efforts in different regions. Such initiatives should leverage existing health literacy, media literacy, and public education projects, align with relevant regulatory frameworks, and engage physicians and health organisations worldwide to strengthen the dissemination of credible content.
25. Support WHO’s infodemic management

For conversational AI platforms and chatbots, social media companies and organisations, search engine companies, online retail companies, online healthcare companies, and other entities:

26. Recognise the spread of medical and public false health information over dissemination networks and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to address this problem as appropriate, including but not limited to altering underlying network dynamics or redesigning platform algorithms.
27. Further strengthen content moderation policies related to medical and public health misinformation, including, but not limited to enhanced content monitoring, modification of recommendation systems to reduce the amplification of false health information, and stronger integration of verified health information.