The Taraba State Primary Health Care Development Agency (TSPHCDA) in collaboration with the United Nations Childrens’ Fund (UNICEF), yesterday trained media practitioners drawn from both the electronic and print media as well as online media through the process of making hand sanitizers in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
More to that , a whatsapp platform primarily designed to support media coordination and support for the primary health care network in the state and to as well serve as a back end media advisory during the preventive campaign against COVID -19 spread, was as well created.
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The decisions which was collectively taken at a three day development of harmonized strategic media mainstream workshop for Taraba state, as agreed will serve as a platform for update, dialogue and recommendations
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The group, as unanimously agreed will be limited and work strictly within the framework of “our collective challenge “COVID-19”.
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Speaking, the state health educator, Mrs. Mercy Maigoge, said “2020 harmonized media work plan jointly developed by the Taraba state media organizations and Taraba state primary health care development agency supported by UNICEF is  to ensure, integrity, reliability and consistency in quality of information dissemination on health from all media institutions in the state.
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Stressing that it will serve as primary responders through educating engagements, he affirmed that it will also create and sustain an efficiently robust and timely information dissemination across all local networks in the state.Â
According to her, the exercise will ensure, integrity, reliability and consistency in quality of information dissemination on health from all media institutions in the state, urged the media to always make clarifications with the relevant authorities in the health sector before going making their reports public.
Stressing the aims of the harmonized work plan among which is to develop a community based model information feedback system that sustain primary health care needs at the grassroot.
Citing the importance of imbibing the culture of good hygiene , the state health educator of the agency, Maigoge , urged journalists to as well go extra legitimate miles in educating the people at the grassroots on how to “stay safe from Covid-19”.
Tasking them not to be selfish with the knowledge acquired from the making of hand sanitizers but to replicate them among their colleagues, family members , communities, such moves she believed would go a long way to forestall the spread of the virus and other related diseases.
