Umar Akilu Majeri
A DFID funded program known as “Lafiya Project ” has concluded arrangements to commence training of 12,000 Community volunteers (Jakadan Lafiya) on how to promote public enlightenment for COVID-19 Inspection, Prevention, and Control across 27 local government area of Jigawa state.
The Lafiya project Jigawa state Team Leader Dr. Abubakar Maiwada revealed this while fielding questions from newsmen during a one-day training organized by the project for Laboratory Scientists/Technicians and Samples collectors on COVID-19 and the role they are expected to play in tackling the pandemic.
He said, in the first batch a total of 2,8000 Jakadan Lafiya members which contains 100 persons from each political ward in the state will be trained in the first weeks of September and they are expected to facilitate the cascading of the training to other members.
According to him, when trained, the Jakadan Lafiya volunteers will help in promoting public enlightenment against the COVID-19 pandemic and also work closely with health practitioners on sample taking and contact tracing against any suspected case of coronavirus.
Dr. Maiwada, however, revealed that the DFID funded program had already trained over 5,000 people on the coronavirus Inspection Prevention and Control (IPC) in the state
He said, those trained are critical stakeholders in public health, included: health practitioners, Media men, traditional medicine vendors, patient medicine vendors, Association of Medical Practitioners, community leaders, and traditional rulers.
He said DFID is optimistic that, if public corona-phobia addressed, everybody will be ready to voluntarily go for tests and abide by public and personal preventive measures against the disease as in the case of ordinary malaria fever.
“When the public became well enlightened on Coronavirus Inspection, Prevention and Control than the scourge of the pandemic can be reduced to the beares minimum level”.
Dr. Maiiwada noted that DFID is also given technical support to the Jigawa state government on fight against Covid-19 and they are currently working to improve the state testing capacity from 20 to 100 per day for quick and timely response to any suspected case.
