• Friday, March 29, 2024
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UNICEF, Akwa Ibom state calls for more awareness on Monkeypox

The organisers of a one day advocacy meeting with media executives from UNICEF Enugu and Rivers Field office on Monkeypox have called on media organisations to intensify efforts in creating awareness on Monkeypox outbreak to curtail the rate of its spread.

The meeting was organised by UNICEF in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom state ministry of health, in Uyo, with the objective of increasing reportage on the preventive messages, up-to-date and concise information on the emerging monkeypox outbreak and also to focus on broading scope of knowledge on monkeypox especially as it concerns the survival of the child, among others.

The Akwa Ibom state commissioner for health Dominic Ukponga while addressing 37 media executives drawn from 11 states of UNICEF Enugu and Rivers Field office comprising Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi and Rivers states in Uyo Akwa Ibom states appealed to the media to be more aggressive and think out of the box to ensure that monkeypox related issues are disseminate properly to the public.

Ukpong lamented on how unfounded rumour of forceful immunisation by unknown persons in the state created panic that parents rushed to schools to withdraw their children, saying that since then till now some parents have not allowed their children to school.
According to him monkeypox has no vaccine yet, hence no body should be talking of its vaccine.
The commissioner who accepted that two persons in the state has been tested and confirmed said his ministry is seriously working round the clock to see that it does not spread, although it is not as deadly as small pox and nobody has died we are going to ensure that it is fully eradicated.

He said that the state government has taken series of actions to calm down pandemonium in the state.
“It is worthy to note that monkeypox is a rare disease transmitted to humans by animals and not through vaccines.

The state government has since reactivated infectious disease Emergency Rapid Response Team and other structures to tackle the issue of monkeypox diseases”. He said.
Earlier the UNICEF health specialist Egbe Abe said that his organisation would continue to advocate for children’s right and provide vaccines to improve the health of the children all over the globe.
He said that the expected out come of the meeting was for the participants to be familiar with the guidelines in reporting monkeypox mechanism for effective monitoring.

He advised that people should not stigmatise monkeypox patients because such would lead to people hiding the symptom of such ailments.

He noted that after 21 days of treatment, the patient would unlikely infect any person, “we isolate, treat and discharge them after treatment”.

He however warned that persons should avoid contacts with animals that could harbour the virus, such as monkey, squeal, roddents and that people should always engage in regular hand washing with soap “because the virus can be transmitted from animals through direct contact.

He advised that people should also cook their meats very well before eating to avoid spreading it from eating them.
UNICEF communication Officer Enugu office Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe also talked extensively on the child rights reporting, Ethical guideline for journalism and appealed to the media officers to follow strictly the guidelines when reporting or conducting interview on children.

 

Regis Anukwuoji/Enugu