The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) note with satisfaction arrangements made by the government to fight COVID-19 and ensure that Ghanaians are safe from the pandemic.
The three media groups understand that the combination of getting vaccinated and following World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations to protect yourselves and others, provide the best antidote to COVID-19.
In a Press Statement issued and signed by Affail Monney (GJA President), Andrew Danso-Aninkora (GIBA Executive Secretary) and Andrew Edwin Arthur, ESQ (PRINPAG President) and copied to Spice News, bringing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic will relieve the entire nation of the heavy toll the virus is having on the country’s education, economy, healthcare and many other critical sectors of our society.
They said with the vaccination exercise soon to begin, we are convinced that having accurate information about the exercise with exact public trust is the sure way to ensure the success of the programme.
In that regard, they urged journalists and media houses to help inform and educate the public with the facts on the benefits and the advantages of being vaccinated in order to ensure that they avail themselves of the opportunity to keep safe from COVID-19.
“We urge all journalists and media houses to continue stressing on the need to adhere to the WHO safety protocols of wearing nose masks, ensuring social distancing, avoiding crowds and frequent washing of hands with soap under running water”, they stated.
They noted that our best protection against COVID-19 is a combination of getting vaccinated in addition to strictly adhering to these protocols and that no single bullet can kill the pandemic and so it was important we educate the public about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccination.
We are convinced by medical evidence that, since 1978, Ghana has rolled out vaccinations for 13 different diseases, which have helped to eliminate those diseases, including measles from the country. We urge the public to disabuse their minds of reports that the vaccine would cause harm to human health. Indeed, the vaccine is more helpful than harmful”, they opined.
They hinted that GJA, GIBA and PRINPAG, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Information, will roll out a series of educational activities to equip the media with the appropriate information to enhance their work of informing and educating the public.
They lamented that there has been a lot of misinformation peddled around and as bearers of factual information, we must endeavour to feed the public with credible and factual information about the COVID-19 vaccines to save lives.
“We have done it before and we will do it again this time around. Let us all rally around the national flag to undertake this exercise to save the country from the pandemic”, they pointed out.
Story: Seth Ameyaw Danquah
