Opinion – Julio Abramczyk: Communication in Science

Anthony Fauci, an international authority in his field of research on communicable diseases, is retiring from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he was director for the past 38 years.

In an interview with Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, editor-in-chief of Jama, the official journal of the American Medical Association, he explained, among other topics, how to become a good science communicator.

Recently, Fauci had to deal with the denialists, a group with copy in our midst that denies the reality of the facts. He recommends that scientists should stick with the data obtained and with the science consistently.

The example of this consistency was given when Fauci publicly contradicted former President Trump, to whom he was medical adviser.

Trump claimed that hydroxychloroquine was the new cure for Covid, which was not supported by any scientific data.

Fauci recommends not disrespecting government authorities, but maintaining your own scientific integrity and responsibility to the public.

It depends on the scientist and public health expert to know the facts and be able to interpret them. The public expects scientists and public health officials to issue recommendations and guidelines, as seen in the early years of HIV and the first weeks of the Covid outbreak.

But it must be made clear to the public, Fauci insists, that “as far as we know, this is the information we have now, and therefore our current interpretation.” It should be emphasized that in a pandemic the situation may change when new evidence emerges.

Communication, explains Fauci, must be presented with precision of thought and economy of words. That is, knowing what your target population is and saying it concisely and clearly.

For Fauci, the current anti-scientific trend will not last long because the truth always comes out and wins.