Science and SUS in daily life: reflections on media coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Abstract

Media coverage about science and the Unified Health System (SUS) during COVID-19 is analyzed, in the light of the computerized society. These subjects are daily in the media, justified by the population's interest in the exploration of scientific themes and in SUS-s actions to tackle the pandemic. Today the Information and Communication Technologies are new actors providing space for debate; the need to propose quick responses to an increasingly connected society are emerging. The growing presence and appreciation of scientific evidence, the importance and challenges of SUS in the media are highlighted, despite the interest of part of society in spreading false news that generate misinformation on the network. In addition to reporting on actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, scientists are daily demanded by the media, to produce robust narratives, to disseminate scientific knowledge that prove successful sanitary measures, to offer clarifications regarding distorted or fanciful information and to disseminate SUS´s responses to face this health and humanitarian crisis. Staying present in the media should be a goal for scientists, scientific societies and SUS leaders, with the clarity of the importance of disseminating science, combating obscurantism and expanding popular support for our universal health system.