Engaging Swahili-speaking communities to access COVID-19 factual information through the use of digital media

At the very beginning of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation emerged online regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease. Disinformation and misinformation was mostly spread through social media text messages. On February 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) described a "massive infodemic, "citing an overabundance of reported information, accurate and false, about the virus that "makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it." The WHO stated that the high demand for timely and trustworthy information has incentivized the creation of a direct WHO 24/7 myth-busting hotline where its communication and social media teams have been monitoring and responding to misinformation through its website and social media pages. The WHO specifically debunked as false some claims that have circulated on social media, including the claim that a person can tell if they have the virus or not simply by holding their breath; the claim that drinking lots of water will protect against the virus; and the claim that that gargling salt water will prevent infection. Facebook, Twitter and Google said they were working with WHO to address "misinformation." Besides availability of quality and reliable information in English, little effort has been done to bridge the gap of information for Swahili-speaking communities. Expected Outputs At least 3 recent (i.e. in the last 12 months) outputs (works) covering health, and specifically disease prevention, control, management and treatment. These could be recent published work or communication outputs by featured individual science journalists and communicators.