…Urges Journalists to Take Responsibility

Joel Ajayi

In its effort to put an end to the pandemic COVID-19 which had killed over 10, 404 persons in the African continent as over 418 002 affected, Africa’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention ACDC’S has revealed it has trained 100,000 Healthcare Worker to Support COVID-19 response.

This even as Africa’s Health Organization urged the Journalists covering the ongoing COVID-19 to take responsibility adding that COVID-19 is very real.

An Africa Health Organization ACDC’S have contributed immensely to the fight against pandemic coronavirus in the continent which includes; deployment of 1 million community health workers; Establishment of   continent-wide procurement for laboratory and medical supplies with conducting of over 10 million  COVID-19 tests by the end of 2020.

ACDC in collaboration with public strategy firm, Gatefield revealed this on Thursday during a webinar hosted to help Journalists improve their reporting around the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the ACDC’s survey, 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.

“The survey was conducted in March and April in 28 cities across 20 the 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.

Speaking at the meeting 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.

While giving Tips for Journalists on Reporting PHSMs he urged journalists to always apply the lens of lives, livelihoods, liberty, and long-term to your analysis of the interventions and be balanced, not biased, and be public health-focused, not political.

In his 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, an 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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