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40% of Africans Don’t Believe There’s COVID-19-Africa-CDC’s

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Joel Ajayi
African Centre for Diseases Control ACDC, has revealed that 40% of Africans in the continent believe that there is nothing like Pandemic COVID-19 in Africa, while 60% said that the disease can be cured with Lemon and Vitamin C.
ACDC  in collaboration with public strategy firm, Gatefield stated this  on Thursday during a webinar hosted to help Journalists improve their reporting around the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the group, across the continent, less than half of the people interviewed about the deadly COVID-19 pandemic believed they faced the risk of contracting the virus.
“More than 60% believed that COVID-19 could be prevented by drinking lemon or taking vitamin C. And just over 40% believed that Africans could not get COVID-19.
” These are some of the findings from a report released by the Partnership for Evidence- Based Response to Covid-19 (PERC) Consortium. The consortium is made up of public health organizations such as the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention; Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies; the World Health Organization; the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team; and the World Economic Forum and private sector firms such as market research company, Ipsos.
“Also, the survey was conducted in March and April in 28 cities across 20 AU Member States revealed  real-time information about the dynamics of the pandemic, governments’ responses to it, and people’s perceptions of both, to help governments implement the best public health and social measures to contain the virus.
“It particularly focussed on their reporting on the public health and social measures around the virus.
However, as at Thursday Morning, in Africa currently, there are 418 002 cases, 10 404 deaths, and close to 200 000 recoveries.
Speaking also, the Country Representative Resolve to Save Lives, and Dr Emmanuel Agogo  said that even though Africa’s COVID-19 numbers have been lower than the rest of the world, it was important to identify the common trends, issues, and attitudes across the phases of the outbreak.
“Outbreaks and pandemics come in various phases. We need to keep vigilant. COVID-19 will hit rural areas and villages later than urban centers,” said Agogo. Resolve to Save Lives is an initiative that has been funded to look at the COVID-19 response.
“The study found 4 in 5 respondents anticipated that COVID-19 would be a big problem in their states. But, their personal risk perception for contracting the virus was low.
” In addition, about 73% thought that a hot climate prevented the spread of the virus and 61% believe that avoiding a person who has recovered from COVID-19 prevents them from getting it.
” This was dangerous, because it meant they were less likely to follow public health measures advice because they did not think they would be affected.”  He said.
He therefore advised Journalists to focus on four lenses when they reported on the pandemic. These lenses are lives, livelihoods, liberties, and the long term. These were the lives that were affected, the impact on people’s livelihoods, the liberties of people as well as the long-term effects that it would have.
In his welcome remark, the Africa CDC’s Principal Communication Officer, James  Ayodele said that the continent had adopted a continental operations strategy that hoped to conduct 10 million COVID-19 tests in Africa, deploy 1 million community health workers, train 100 000 health care workers by the end of 2020 and set up a procurement platform on the CDC’s site to help supply member states with the necessary health equipment.
Also, expert panel of Journalists includes  Eromo Egbejule, Africa Editor, OZY; Joan Van Dyk, Senior Health Journalist, Bhekisisa; Dr. Mercy Korir, Medical Journalist, KTN News; and Aisha Salaudeen, Features Producer, CNN Africa, shared their experiences covering the pandemic at the event and advocated for more ethical and principled reporting.
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NSC DG Olopade Meets NSC Directors, Calls for Scientific Approach to Sports Federation Activities

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Joel Ajayi 
The Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, has reiterated the new transformative vision of the Commission during his meeting with the Directors and Heads of Departments of the Commission.


The interactive sessions allowed senior officials to introduce themselves to the new DG, who emphasized the importance of strategic, standardized and scientific approach to the Commission’s operations, including the conduct of Sports Federation Elections.


In his remarks, Olopade stressed the need for reforms that would attract top administrators to vie for leadership roles within Nigeria’s Sports Federations.
“There is no way we can’t be looking at having top industry CEOs on board in our Sports Federations,” he stated.


The DG also highlighted the Commission’s mandate to elevate the Corporate image of various Sports in Nigeria. 


He reemphasized the NSC’s commitment to reviving key initiatives such as the National Sports Industry Policy and the 10-Year Football Master Plan.


“The Chairman and myself strongly believe we need to have a different approach to our Federation Elections,” he noted. 


“This is why the emphasis of the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a balanced approach to both sports consumption and sports production.”


The meeting reflects the new direction of the NSC, with Olopade pledging to champion and support policies that will foster professionalism and sustainable development across Nigeria’s sports landscape.

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