Mar 28 , 2020 | Graphic Online

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has, in collaboration with the Information Services Department (ISD), stepped up the nationwide educational campaign on the coronavirus disease (C0VID-19).

Regional information officers (RIOs) of the ISD who are being deployed to all the 16 regions have undergone training and been provided with relevant information on the disease to enable them to sensitise the people to it.

The officers will in turn train their colleagues at the district and the sub-district levels.

Significance

A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Pius Enam Hadzide, who addressed the officers, said the dissemination of information on the disease was critical.

He said the ISD was a critical agency in this drive, since it had the necessary infrastructure to disseminate information to every nook and cranny of the country.

“Although this pandemic is a misfortune, it provides you all, as information officers, the opportunity to justify why the government would not only have to maintain this unit but also resource it for it to contribute to national development,” he added.

Collaboration

The Head of Public Relations of the MoH, Mr Elorm Ametepe, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said heightened awareness of the pandemic was part of the strategy to control the spread of the disease.

“We cannot take chances and so there is the need to step up education on the situation and what people need to do to stop its spread. We have ISD officers in all the districts, and so in terms of numbers, there will be adequate officials to go to the markets, lorry parks and other places to educate the people and give out flyers on the COVID-19.

“They will provide the people with relevant information on the nature of the COVID-19, its mode of transmission and preventive measures, so that they will know what to do,” he said.

Mr Ametepe, however, stressed that the fight against the disease required concerted efforts by all stakeholders, not only health officers or ISD officers.

“Even bigger nations such as Spain, Norway, the US and Italy have been overwhelmed by the disease and so we need to rally efforts to contain the virus at this stage and not allow it to go out of hand.

“The MoH is working hard to contain the situation, but we need collaboration from all who matter, so that we will not get to the point where we will be pushed so hard by the pandemic,” he added.

Safety protocol

Mr Ametepe further urged members of the public to comply with the measures put out by health authorities and the directives by the President to prevent the spread of the disease.

“We should wash our hands with clean running water and soap more frequently, and when need be, use hand sanitisers. We must avoid social gatherings and crowded places.

“The virus spreads through movement, so once movement is curtailed and physical interactions are limited, the virus cannot thrive,” he said.

The PRO also asked people to refrain from putting out unverifiable information on the pandemic to create more anxiety, fear and panic.