Disease awareness campaign websites often encourage people to have tests and treatments, rather than just describing them and rarely note potential problems such as overdiagnosis or overtreatment, according to Australian and international research. The study, which looked at 107 disease awareness campaigns, like “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” and “Movember”, found that while almost three-quarters of the campaign websites disclosed commercial involvement, it was mostly on subpages and the nature of the involvement was rarely specified, making it difficult to assess its influence. The researchers say that if campaigns intend to inform the public, they should strive for balanced messaging that quantifies both benefits and harms
Disease awareness campaigns rarely talk about the risks of overdiagnosis or overtreatment
