Disinformation, public health and immunization in Brazil: the effects of popular health education

ABSTRACT

Vaccine immunization is considered a true milestone in public health by contributing to the reduction, protection and prevention of numerous communicable diseases and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic it is no different. However, among the different expressions of the denialism of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19), are the fake news and information regarding the vaccine, making it difficult to adhere to immunization due to "fake news". Therefore, the present study aimed to present the educational actions that have popular health education as a reference, which were used in favor of adherence to vaccination in Brazil, and that are cited in the scientific literature. For this, a systematic review of scientific literature was carried out, using descriptors and search strategies "Health Education AND COVID-19 Vaccines" and "Health Education AND Immunization", in the online databases Virtual Health Library (VHL) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) - with the filters "Brazil", and publications from 2020, until December 2021, in the languages "Portuguese", "English" and "Spanish" and "article". The results point to different strategies of popular health education (HPS), such as (i) conversation wheels in public health services;(ii) messages and electronic journals forwarded to SUS users by Primary Health Care;(iii) explanatory videos forwarded by public schools;and (iv) posters made available in public buildings in different municipalities. It is concluded that dialogical HPS contributes to the intellectual emancipation of citizens, making them able to decide about themselves, safely, when facing health situations.