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The Nigerian Red Cross Society has trained over 20 selected Red Cross volunteers in Enugu State on COVID-19 risk communication and community engagement.
The two-day training which was supported by the International Federation of the Red Cross had volunteers from Enugu North, Enugu East and Nkanu West local government areas of the state. It was aimed at engaging more communities to increase awareness about COVID-19 and curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Declaring the training open, the Branch Secretary, Hon. Tony Udegbu said the campaign which will involve “house to house visits, community sensitization and focus group discussions will provide timely, relevant and actionable life-saving information that will encourage people to adopt safe health practices and reduce fear, stigma and misinformation about the virus”.
Mr Udegbu further commended the organization’s volunteers for their selfless and courageous role as frontline workers in the fight against the virus, stating that the battle against the spread of COVID-19 must be won in the state.
Also speaking, the Africa Centre for Disease Control Enugu state Support Epidemiologist, Dr Daniel Okomah, stressed on the importance of risk communication activities in public health emergencies. According to Mr Okomah, risk communication and community engagement activities have the capacity raise awareness, elicit change and handle rumours and misconception in a period such as this.
He added that it provides people with the right messages on what they need to know, the risks they are faced with and the proper action to take. He therefore charged the participants to selflessly and effectively engage with the people in other achieve the objective of the campaign.
One of the volunteers Ifeoma Onwuka who expressed her readiness to enlighten community members said it has become important to engage people at the grassroots, following the second wave of the virus.
“In my community, so many people do not believe in the existence of the virus, while some have gotten used to it. It is our responsibility to educate and enlighten these persons on real facts about the virus and preventive measures to stay safe. I believe that this campaign will go a long way to clear so many misconceptions and rumours about the virus especially in rural areas”
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.