Kiphire, August 25 (MExN): The Information Education Communication (IEC) Bureau, of the Chief Medical Officer’s Office in Kiphire, conducted a ‘COVID-19 Anti-Stigma & Discrimination Campaign’ at Longthonger village in Kiphire on August 23.
District Community Mobilizer (DCM), Seli Anar, who was a resource person at the programme, spoke on guidelines to address stigma associated with COVID-19. He mentioned that stigma associated with COVID-19 is based on three main factors: lack of adequate information, fear of the disease, and rumours or misinformation, a press release informed.
Stating that COVID-19 is a public health emergency that is causing a stressful and a difficult time for everyone, he said rumours and misinformation are causing more harm which can hamper COVID-19 recovery.
The DCM pointed out that stigma and discrimination is leading to people concealing symptoms, hesitancy in seeking medical care, not adhering to interventions like home quarantine, and ostracisation of healthcare workers and others involved in COVID-19 management.
Therefore, he urged the gathering to be appreciative and supportive of efforts made by frontline workers, to verify information from reliable sources such as the medical department; not to spread name, identity, and locality of persons affected or under quarantine; and not to spread misinformation.
The programme was chaired by Block Extension Educator, Daniel Magh who proposed thanked the participants and urged them to disseminate the information on every possible platform. It is to be mentioned that similar programmes were conducted at Kiphire village and Amahator on August 21 and 25 respectively, the release informed.
