Faculty of Health Sciences teams up with YouTube Health to battle misinformation

The popular online video platform launched YouTube Health to battle misinformation and provide users with access to reliable health information from medical experts – regardless of where they live.

As part of the initiative, content from authoritative channels will be highlighted in search results to help people identify credible sources when searching for health topics.

YouTube Health has already been successfully implemented in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

In Canada, McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences is one of the inaugural channels participating in the program.

On Monday, the Faculty’s communications team and Mathew Leonardi, gynecologist and associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, attended a launch event at YouTube’s headquarters in Toronto.

Prominent medical influencers, including Mikhail “Mike” Varshavski, known as Doctor Mike on YouTube, and rheumatologist and McMaster alumna Siobhan Deshauer, known as ViolinMD, attended the event.

Garth Graham, director and global head of Healthcare and Public Health and head of YouTube Health, spoke at the event and said the goal of the initiative is to make public health information truly public and positively impact communities at scale.

Visit the Faculty of Health Sciences YouTube channel.