Posts selling merchandise to deal with prostate situations that includes the highest well being official in Canada’s British Columbia province should not respectable. The advertisements hyperlink to websites unrelated to well being treatments and Bonnie Henry’s workplace stated she had made no such endorsement.
“On the Canadian Congress of Urology, Dr. Bonnie Henry introduced a brand new methodology of prostate restore to eliminate prostatitis at residence,” the textual content of a June 30, 2024 Fb publish claims.
A number of different posts that includes British Columbia Provincial Well being Officer Henry — a specialist in public health and preventive medication (archived right here) — unfold throughout Fb, claiming to incorporate hyperlinks and details about tips on how to deal with numerous prostate points, similar to most cancers and irritation.
The advertisements promote purported well being treatments, however the hyperlinks hooked up to most of the posts result in pages with numerous recipes for salads or Thai iced tea.
Among the posts function footage of Henry speaking, however her phrases don’t seem to line up with the motion of her lips. Reverse picture searches of screenshots from the clip reveal the video is pulled from a November 2023 press convention discussing respiratory sickness season, not prostate points (archived right here).
Andy Watson, a spokesman for the provincial well being officer, advised AFP in a July 3 e mail that the claims of promotion from Henry within the posts weren’t respectable.
“These should not correct and are false endorsements,” he stated.
In accordance with the Canadian Most cancers Society (CCS), prostatitis is a non-cancerous situation of the prostate characterised by swelling and irritation (archive right here). The CCS lists completely different therapies relying on the kind of prostatitis, together with antibiotics, alpha-blockers and muscle relaxants (archived right here).
Equally, the CCS web site explains that to deal with prostate most cancers, a healthcare workforce will create a specialised therapy plan primarily based on the kind of situation a affected person is identified with (archived right here). In accordance with the charity, prostate most cancers is the “most typical most cancers in Canadian males,” and whereas the danger of growing the illness will increase with age, exams exist to detect the most cancers early (archived right here and right here).
AFP has beforehand debunked illegitimate Fb advertisements concentrating on Canadians by appropriating the pictures of public figures.
Henry turned the goal of conspiracy theories and misinformation for her outstanding position in British Columbia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, typically resulting in demise threats.
Learn extra of AFP’s reporting on misinformation in Canada right here.
