GPs need training to tackle anti-vax and other health furphies: AMA
Vice president Dr Chris Moy says that the suggestion, from the association's new health literacy position statement, is to stop the 'deluge of misinformation'
The AMA says doctors should be offered training in psychological strategies to free patients from the influence of anti-vax propaganda and other bogus health information.
Released this week, its new position statement on health illiteracy is partly designed to stem the mass quackery being spread, particularly by celebrities and ‘influencers’.
AMA vice president Dr Chris Moy warned that confronting vaccine and other health myths head-on often fed into beliefs that doctors were the enemy.
In his own GP practice, Dr Moy has dealt with patients diagnosed with cancer rejecting medical treatment to pursue alternative therapies and those with severe depression refusing to trial antidepressants.
