Yobe partners Mercy Corp to train journalists on Covid-19 vaccine information dissemination
Story from Sa’adatu MAINA, Damaturu
The Yobe State Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture is in partnership with Mercy Corp to train journalists in the state on misinformation and disinformation around the Covid-19 vaccines.
Declaring the two-day training workshop open, the Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Honourable Mohammed Lamin, expressed optimism that the training would go a long way in getting the media more engaged in carrying out its functions of educating, informing and disseminating accurate information around the Covid-19 vaccine to the people.
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Represented by the Director, Information Services, Hajiya Husna Ibrahim, the commissioner said the government Governor Mai Mala Buni places priority on healthcare delivery, adding that with the challenges of the global pandemic of Covid-19 which had affected the global economy and the general wellbeing of the people, efforts were being geared towards checking the spread of the virus.
“Vaccination is ongoing but a lot of vaccine wastage is being recorded, he lamented, attributing the waste to low turnout of people for the vaccine due to misinformation, disinformation and common wrong beliefs around the vaccine.
To change this narrative, according to the commissioner, the media must use all avenues available to educate and spread reliable, adequate and accurate information about Covid-19 and its vaccines.
He also disclosed that various activities and interventions such as advocacy and sensitisation by a medical team and social mobilisation committee of the state under the directorate of Information Commissioner were carried out in the communities to better the situation.
Lamin stated that the government welcomes partners who are ready to key into its policies and programmes for the people of the state and as such sees this training as very important and timely in achieving its goals of reducing the spread of fake stories, behavioural change and improved access to the vaccines.
The Commissioner, thanked Mercy Corp and partners for the training and project, calling on participants to make adequate use of the opportunities and knowledge from the training.
Participants were drawn from various media houses in the state.
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