13 Creation of a free, accessible event fighting fake news regarding Covid-19

IntroductionOur aim was to describe the First Brazilian Congress of Clinical Evidence on COVID-19, which took place in Brazil, where the pandemic has hugely impacted the population.MethodsThe organizing committee consisted of a multidisciplinary team of 23 volunteers. As official communication tools, WhatsApp, email, shared folders in Google Drive and online meetings were used. We hoped that the event would boost the fight against fake news and help raise awareness on COVID-19 prevention methods. A major concern of the organizing team was to spread factual knowledge about COVID-19. To this end we had simultaneous translation and interpretation in Brazilian Sign Language to ensure accessibility.ResultsIn total, 23,573 participants registered for the event, and over 30,000 views on the first day, with an overall reach of 85,000 views for the original audio version (up to September 5th, 2021). At the end of the event, a satisfaction survey with participants showed that expectations were exceeded for 97.5%, and 86.7% reported acquiring new knowledge about COVID-19.DiscussionThe conference was an important opportunity for teamwork and for providing reliable information to Brazil’s population. Technology allowed us to reach participants from all Brazilian states and even other countries. However, the majority of speakers were physicians and some healthcare areas were not represented. The team decided to host a Second Congress, including speakers from different specialties to account for knowledge gaps. With the increasing levels of contamination and deaths by COVID-19 in Brazil and the lack of effective public policies to combat the virus, the dissemination of good, reliable information concerning COVID-19 was urgent.ConclusionHosting a free, online, evidence-based event to disseminate knowledge on COVID-19 is feasible, and it is possible to engage a large number of participants.