Mchinji DHO hails NICE for targeting hard-to-reach areas with Covid-19 messages
Mchinji District Health Office (DHO) has commended the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) for targeting hard-to-reach communities with Covid-19 messages.
The district’s Director for Health and Social Services, Juliana Kanyengambeta, observed that the approach NICE is employing in its awareness campaign is motivating rural-based communities, who earlier had perceptions and misconception towards the vaccine, to go for the jab.
Kanyengambeta made the remarks on Wednesday after a successful 14-day Covid-19 vaccination awareness campaign targeting all the Traditional Authorities (T/As) in Mchinji.
“Mchinji District Council needs partners like NICE trust to target hard-to-reach areas with information on Covid-19 vaccine. Mchinji, as a border district, has many hard-to-reach areas and these people need messages on the different health interventions the government is implementing and we need organizations to help us spread messages on Covid-19 vaccine to complement the campaigns we are already conducting,” she said.
But Kanyengambeta was quick to emphasize the need for the people of Mchinji to continue adhering to Covid-19 preventative measures so that the district can deal with the disease.
Mchinji NICE Trust District Civic Education Officer (DCEO), Pilirani Emmanuel Banda, said with financial support from the Global fund, NICE has intensified awareness on Covid-19 vaccine in order to scale up uptake in hard-to-reach areas.
Banda said the Trust is using a mobile public address system, which is moving in every corner of the district to encourage people who have not yet received vaccination to get vaccinated.
“The awareness campaign is one effective way of raising public interest, we are hopeful that at the end of 14 days people will be convinced to be vaccinated,” he said.
Banda said the organization was holding the awareness campaign in collaboration with officials from Mchinji District Hospital to educate the people on the need to get vaccinated.
