Politicisation of Science and Health Topics

Science and health journalism are tasked with informing the general public, as concisely and accurately as possible, about topics relevant to society, such as the health and environmental impact of smoking, the existence and dangers of climate change, the benefits of mask-wearing, the use of oral contraception, or the value of immunisation. At the same time, science and health, just like many other topics, have been politicised since the earliest recorded times, a phenomenon that often impacted their ability to positively shape society and continues to do so. In this chapter, we attempt to define politicisation, analyse some of the factors that favour its emergence and circulation in society, and present several examples of topics with scientific, medical, and public health relevance that became politicised globally, often with detrimental effects on individual and collective wellbeing. As we explore strategies to prevent or limit the political polarisation of science- and health-related topics, we emphasise the importance of identifying conspiratorial discourse and misinformation, particularly on social media, and the need to empower the consumption of information related to the multiple facets of health and media literacy.