Silencing Scientists and Health Workers during the Pandemic: Webinar Series

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Scientists and health professionals have long been targeted in connection with their professional work. Though this problem preceded the pandemic, it has emerged as a major concern, both in the United States and globally, as a result of COVID-19. Since the onset of the pandemic, scientists and health professionals have been subjected to threats and other attacks - online and offline - resulting from their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 with public health interventions and information. Reports of violence - carried out by numerous actors, including governments, groups, and individuals - are wide ranging and have come from all over the globe. In some cases, scientists, health professionals, and other groups have been targeted by multiple sources simultaneously, putting them at heightened risk of harm.

Beginning September 1, 2022, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Human Rights hosted five webcasts examining the global problem of COVID-19-related attacks on researchers and health professionals, along with concerns regarding repression of information during the pandemic and implications for internationally protected rights. Topics included the targeting of scientists and public health professionals for providing evidence-based health information, global patterns of violence against health personnel, censorship and the right to information, science communication and human rights amid public health emergencies, and constructing a human rights framework for online health-related speech. This Proceedings of a Symposium-in Brief provides a high-level summary of the issues discussed during the series.

Publication information

10 pages · 8.5 x 11 ·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70180-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/26936

Suggested citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Attacks on Scientists and Health Professionals During the Pandemic: Proceedings of a Symposium—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Webcast

Beyond the Pandemic: Addressing Attacks on Researchers and Health Professionals

April 11, 2023

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (ET)

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About

The Committee on Human Rights (CHR) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine gathered experts to explore practical steps that scientists, researchers, and health professionals are taking to protect themselves and their colleagues from targeting—including violence, harassment, and other attacks.

This event marked the launch of Proceedings—in Brief from the CHR’s fall 2022 webcast series, Silencing Scientists and Health Workers during the Pandemic, which examined threats and attacks against science and health researchers and practitioners connected to their work to combat the spread of COVID-19, as well as related implications for internationally-protected human rights.

Moderator:

Robert Lawrence, Center for a Livable Future Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine

Panel:

Michelle Morse, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Commissioner for Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Johanna Chao Kreilick, President, Union of Concerned Scientists

Tara Kirk Sell, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering; Senior Scholar, Center for Health Security, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Contact

Tracy Sahay

(202) 334-2397
tsahay@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Silencing Scientists and Health Workers during the Pandemic: Webinar Series

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