COVID-19

Dr Natasha Howard and the team from LSHTM interviewed camp residents to explore challenges and potential solutions surrounding COVID-19. They found that widespread misinformation, fatalism, difficult living conditions, and insecurity from bombardments made COVID-19 mitigation seem largely irrelevant to displaced families. Mistrust in COVID-19 responses, including vaccination, was heightened due to misinformation, most commonly spread on social media.

Using this award, Dr Howard and the team are translating findings into Arabic, Syria’s primary language, to increase accessibility for study participants and other national stakeholders. They will provide COVID-19 advice to counter misinformation in easily-digestible and inclusive formats including infographics and social media blogs, focusing on women and young people, to help ensure equitable access to accurate information. The team are also conducting webinars to engage decision-makers and policy stakeholders in their research.