COVID-19 Prevention Ownership, Our Focus – Dr Guy Yogo
Says Messages Have Reached Over 2m People
Given the rising figures in infection of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rivers State, the focus of RCCE now is to work towards community engagement in ensuring that the ownership of the prevention of the disease is within the communities.
The chief of field, Rivers Field Office, UNICEF, Dr Guy Yogo, who stated this while fielding questions from journalists shortly after a live television programme on Rivers State Television, Port Harcourt, commended the efforts made so far by the Rapid Response Team (RRT), which, he said, has contributed immeasurably to the success recorded towards achieving their focus.
”The RCCE pillar has done tremendously well under the leadership of the State Inter-ministerial Committee on Covid-19. The RCCE, through the RRT, has reached over two million people with the relevant message to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
”Today, we have more than 240 committees that are models, showing the good examples with community-led initiatives on their own to protect their communities”, he said.
Dr Yogo further disclosed that in the next couple of weeks the, RCCE would strengthen their operations by building on grassroots collaborations with women, youth groups, CSOs, and religious leaders so as to reach out to more communities for them to take ownership to prevent the virus from gaining access to their domains.
He stressed the need for behavioural change as a result of the devastating effect the virus could have on humans, adding that the RCCE is also partnering the private sector business owners to integrate behavioural change among their employees in their daily activities through the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
On the recent information released by the Nigeria Centr for Disease Control (NCDC) that those over 50 years or with chronic health conditions are at more risk of complications or death from COVID-19 than people below that age bracket, the UNICEF boss, while confirming this stance, noted that the coronavirus is spreading across all ages irrespective of the age bracket.
”What NCDC is saying is that we should take all preventive measures not to pass on the spread”, he added.
He stated further that the socio-economic impact of the dreaded disease is heavy in communities, adding that the health impact is heavy on women, children and called for collective responsibility to curb the virus.
”Time has come for us to realize that the disease is real. We have all of the preventive measures within our reach: washing of hands regularly with soap and running water, wearing nose mask, keeping social distance, and looking out for each other to ensure we seek early care if any symptoms exist”, he said.
