Navigating Online Health Information: Insights From Experts In India

Many Indians turn to Google to seek information about their health and wellness, but the reliability of the content they find is often questionable

“The top five searched words on Google India are related to releasing stress, ADHD for kids, diabetes, cancer, and depression,” said Rachna Chhachhi, a Cancer, Nutrition, and Mental Health Therapist at BW Wellbeing's ANAMYAH. She also mentioned that many people are reluctant to seek help from doctors due to the stigma surrounding mental health issues, which is particularly affecting the LGBTQ+ community.

Chhachhi also pointed out that a significant percentage of Indian women and men are unhealthy, but they lack access to medical care due to a shortage of doctors. “61 per cent of Indian women and 47 per cent of Indian men are unhealthy, but have nowhere to go because we don’t have enough doctors,” she added.

She suggested that seeking information online can be a useful approach, provided that the content is trustworthy. Dr Siddhant Bhargava, who is a Fitness and Nutritional Scientist and the Co-founder of Food Darzee, shared a similar opinion to Rachna Chhachhi’s regarding the stigma attached to seeking medical help for mental health issues in India.

He also acknowledged that certain health-related queries on Google might lead people to think they have cancer, which is misleading. He said, “When we commonly say that if you browse Google towards cancer, I think those questions are also pretty skewed because most people of a certain section of society understand it.”

Bhargava points out that while some sections of society have a good understanding of health and wellness, others tend to ignore it, and they end up relying on Google to get answers to their health-related queries. He believes that making health-related information easily accessible online is crucial and could be the most significant achievement of this decade.

Actor Gaurav Chopra echoes Rachna Chhachhi's opinion that it is essential to ensure the credibility of the information we come across online. He emphasises the importance of having the knowledge to differentiate between trustworthy and unreliable sources of information. He also suggests that everyone should develop this ability to determine whether the information they are reading is relevant to their queries or not. 

According to Chopra, educating oneself about reliable sources of information is crucial for making informed decisions regarding health and wellness.