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| Madam Quist Justine, a senior public health nursing officer and the leader of the team |
By: Akpabli Daniel Yao//IGnews/Dzodze
A team of medical staff from the St Anthony’s Hospital at Dzodze in the Ketu North Municipal capital of the Volta Region, in collaboration with a group called SOSSAH, has embarked on Covid-19 education outreach programme in basic schools across the municipality.
The outreach programme comes weeks after the hospital facility was reopened for business after weeks of shut down as part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The team made a stopped at Dzodze Mawuli School complex, where they took hundreds of children through education and hand washing techniques, and also donated face masks and carbolic soaps to them.
Madam Quist Justine, a senior public health nursing officer and the leader of the team, noted that their main aim of reaching out to all basic schools in the municipality is to educate the pupils as part of measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
According to her, SOSSAH, in collaboration with St Anthony’s Hospital, deemed it necessary that schools in their catchment areas should be assisted with education and donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and carbolic soap to aid in the prevention of the spread of the virus.
“Recently, we recorded some cases and a lot of people were infected; we tried to manage it and at a point in time we put some precautionary measures in place so that the disease will not outweigh the health workers, and as part of this, we decided to embark on this outreach programme to reduce the infection rate,” she explained.
She said when masks are given to the students, along with the necessary education, it helps to at least prevent them from getting the virus.
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| Eunice Tsigbey, a senior midwife and a member of the team interacting with the pupils |
“As we educate the students on how best to wash their hands, it prevents them in case they should get the virus on surfaces, as they’ve washed their hands well as demonstrated to them; it helps them from getting infected by the COVID-19.”
She thanked SOSSAH and other individuals who supported the project, adding that people can also support with PPE and others as the team continues to embark on its outreach in school across the municipality.
She further pleaded for support from the general public to enable them get to other schools in the municipality.
Madam Eunice Tsigbey, a senior midwife and a member of the team, noted that majority of the pupils have heard about the Covid-19 but they had no knowledge of some of the information the team gave them.
“Looking at the students,, with demonstration and the teaching of the hand washing techniques we have done for them, I think positively, it has had an impact on them and I hope they will take it to their various homes and churches and share with their colleagues and parents.”
Madam Tsigbey was, therefore, hopeful that the pupils will send the message to their various community and by the end of the day we would collectively fight the coronavirus together and gain back our society.
A physician assistant, Raymond Asafo, who took the pupils through education on the Covid-19 vaccine, said he was very amazed about the questions the pupils were asking during the interaction sections.
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| Raymond Asafo, physician assistant |
According to him, the vaccine is not something they should have talked about per the audience’s (pupils) age group, “but we thought it wise to talk about it to equip them on the issues of myth and misconception with the purpose that they can be messengers to propagate the good news about the vaccine”.
Danyo Harriet Fafali, on behalf of her colleague pupils, expressed gratitude to the team for the education and promised that they will take every bit of the education seriously and be ambassadors in their various homes.
Acolatse Hope, a teacher from the Mawuli School Complex added that their wish is for the programme to be organised periodically, especially in times where there is an outbreak of diseases.
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