[Competence in dealing with uncertainty: lessons to learn from the influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009]

The influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 showed that many decision and policy makers do not trust citizens to effectively cope with uncertainty. We discuss three fundamental problems with the information management at the time: (1) knowledge of available and missing evidence was not communicated transparently and completely, (2) rather than informing citizens, officials often treated them paternalistically, and (3) public trust in vaccinations and institutions was damaged as a result of (1) and (2). We suggest the following measures to policy and decision makers in order to avoid similar problems in the future: transparent description of the situation instead of buzzwords such as "pandemic;" transparent communication of existing and missing evidence instead of dramatic estimates of death rates; disclosure of political decision processes and conflicts of interest.