By Horace Tebulo
DEDZA-(MaraviPost)-With a number of people in the country showing laxity in following COVID-19 preventive measures that were set to fight spread of the pandemic, the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) has reiterated the need for people to continue adhering to the measures in an effort to contain the pandemic.
Fpam District Coordinator for Dedza Cynthia Chikoya observes the need for concerted efforts in a bid to end growing misconceptions over COVID-19 vaccine uptake among communities especially those living in rural areas.
She was speaking on Monday on the sidelines of a COVID-19 Response Mechanism training to mother groups, Community Based Organizations, youth groups and other members all drawn from the district.
Chikoya expresses concern over misconceptions around COVID-19 that communities in the district are still having, citing the need to end them.
“The biggest challenge that we have observed is communities have a knowledge gap especially on the importance of Covid 19 vaccine. We have observed that this is hindering uptake of the vaccine,” says Chikoya.
On this note, she emphasized on the need to enforce preventive measures in a quest to contain further spread of the pandemic.
In his remarks, one of the participants Phillemon Kavala who represented the Civil Society Organizations in the district said the training is timely, describing it as a catalyst in the enforcement of the preventive measures.
“It is true that most people have relaxed having seen that COVID-19 cases are going down, people should know that the pandemic is still with us. As we go back, we will engage fellow community members on the need to continue using face masks, washing hands and observe all the other COVID-19 preventive measures that we have learnt from this training,” says Kavala.
The project dubbed COVID-19 Response Mechanism is being implemented with funding from Global Fund through Action Aid.
