The Niger State Commisioner for Primary Health Care Services, Dr Ahmed Dangana has warned that misinformation is capable of eroding the gains already recorded in the health sector.
Dr Dangana made the observation in a key note address recently at Haske Hotel Minna during the Inaguration of the cohort 1 track two of Niger State Health Misinformation Management Fellowship programme by the Nigeria Health Watch NHW) in collaboration with the Niger State Government.
The Commissioner who was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr. Abdullahi Usman Imam observed that health misinformation undermines efforts of health practitioners to promote healthy communities and in some cases leads to death.
He added that the health misinformation management fellowship programme could not come at a better time than now that the world is grappling with increasing challenge in safeguarding the health of our communities, not only from diseases but from the waves of misinformation which spread so fast.
The Commissioner also informed the fellows that the programme is not only to equip them to be defenders of the truth, but to also to help recognize where they as professionals may be unintentionally contributing to escalate the problem they were trying to solve. He then appreciated Nigeria Health Watch and its team for their commitment towards combatting health misinformation in Niger State.
The Director planning, research and statistics of the state ministry of primary healthcare, Dr. Junaidu Inuwa revealed that their were alot of risks and hazards within the public health space caused by misinformation, saying they will be relying on the fellows to combat it.
He urged the participants to pay attention to the robust interaction that will take place within the period of the training so as to put it into practice in their respective communities after the training.
The programme manager of the NHW, Mr. Abara Erim observed that information is now and intervention, especially in the public health space, saying addressing health misinformation requires a multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach.
He said the second track of the fellowship programme is for health service providers comprising doctors, nurses, midwives, traditional birthday attendants, traditional medicine vendors among others, adding the programme aimes at making them to effectively discharge their duties.
Mr. Abara said information is key to the health services providers to enable them effectively carryout their duties but misinformation had been proven to have hinders such effective discharge of duties, hence the training programme to address the challenge and ensure that our health is saved.
He said the goal of the NHW is to ensure that Nigerians have access to the right information they need to make an informed decision concerning their health, saying this is what they were working hard to achieve.
Similarly, Mr. Sunday Oko who is the project officer gave an overview of the health misinformation management fellowship programme in Niger state, sharing both the vision and mission of the project, which includes building a network of individuals to combat health misinformation.
Mrs. Habiba Lawal is a certified Infordemic Manager and one of the facilitators, said they were looking forward to see the fellows after the training, use the knowledge and skills they have acquired to combat health misinformation, particularly in their respective places of work and communities.
The fellows who were 18 in number were expected to carryout some activities that will aide in reducing the rate of health misinformation in the state within the next two months, by leveraging on the trust from their communities and their clients.