Ministry of Health has advised the public to always verify the information being dispersed before spreading or putting it into action.
Social media is buzzed with unsubstantiated numerous stories, remedies, and treatments for the pandemic of COVID-19.
Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng says the wrong information promotes the spread of Covid-19 because it diverts the public from reality which is a big problem. She said they are fighting wrong information even more than the COVID-19.
The minister has called on the public to always verify all the information they get with the Ministry of Health before circulating it.
She noted that lots of research are currently ongoing but unless the World Health Organisation -WHO comes out to approve any, nothing can be verified.
On Monday morning, a Ministry of Health official Abirahmi Kananathan notified the public not to take serious rumors doing rounds on social media that Uganda has registered the second case of COVID-19 after a man picked from Njeru in Buikwe District turned out positive.
Acheng has also dispelled rumors that chloroquine used in the ’90s for Malaria or HIV drugs serve as a treatment for the disease she instead says until the WHO decides otherwise, treatment for covid -19 remains supportive treatment with lots of fluids, analgesics for those in pain and oxygen and pneumonia treatment for those in severe conditions.
The World Health Organization Uganda Country Representative Dr Tegnen Woldermariam has asked the media to help in the fight against misinformation and stigma. He emphasized that this disease doesn’t discriminate between nationality and stigma but we are all in this together globally.
Uganda announced the first case on Saturday, and there have since been several accounts to the story stirring panic besides rumors of a new case being realized.
