By Magnus Aluma, Abakaliki
A non-governmental organisation, NGO, Grassroots Development & Empowerment Foundation, GRADE, has taken the lead to encourage women and girls to be actively involved in the fight to eliminate tuberculosis on the society.
The Executive Director of the NGO, Mr. Patrick Amah disclosed this on Monday, in a one-day training workshop held in Enugu, for journalists and on-air personnel.
He explained that the programme which was packaged by his office in partnership with Centre for Development and Representative Health, was designed to give women and girls a space in the struggle to eliminate tuberculosis on the society.
Speaking on the title of the programme, ‘Empowering Women Drives Change’, Mr. Amah said the programme was exclusively packaged for women and girls. He said: “we are here today to encourage women and girls, let them have greater participation in the fight against tuberculosis.”
Amah said that the programme this year, targets a total of nine prevalent local government areas, with two in Anambra State and seven in Ebonyi State, adding that at the end of the year, the prevalent rate in these areas would have reduced to the barest minimum.
He described the media as a veritable instrument of agenda setting and called on journalists to use their various organisations to take the message to the grassroots. “We decided to involve the media in this orientation programme, because the media has a vital role to play in this project. Let the journalists use their various media establishments to effectively convey this message to the people out there,” Amah emphasised.
Earlier in an address, an epidemiologist and one of the facilitators of the training programme, Mr Isaac Alobu, also said the essence of involving the media in the orientation programme was to get the message on the key components of the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis effectively delivered at the grassroots.
Mr Alobu noted that teamwork was fundamental to achieving the aims of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, NTLCP in this regard, adding that government and the media should also show greater commitment to stop stigmatisation against people living with tuberculosis.
The epidemiologist further called on journalists to assist relevant agencies to liberate the people from the shackles of ignorance, superstition, and religious beliefs, pointing out that this will also stem the spread of the pandemic. The training, which held at the prestigeous Dannic Hotels in Enugu, pulled a horde of journalists from notable media organisations across Nigeria.
