Defying Misinformation in times of COVID-19: Her Innovation Cameroon (HIC) sensitizes youths on the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 in Buea, South West Region.
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Misinformation on issues surrounding the fight against COVID-19 and the development of vaccines is a call for concern. Misinformation is another dangerous epidemic that ought to be addressed with caution without politicizing the situation.
Misinformation has continued to scare the citizens of countries around the world and thereby making them shy away from either taking vaccination or respecting the preventive measures put in place by national and international communities. In Cameroon, the misinformation has been gravely aggravated by some religious institutions/spiritual beliefs.
TO curbed its effects, on 10 September 2021, Her Innovation Cameroon (HIC) Organized a workshop in partnership with Global Youth Mobilization (GYM) on the theme “Demystifying the Myths and Skepticisms about Covid-19 and its Vaccines” to create awareness on the importance of being vaccinated and how to filter good information out of misinformation.
The workshop, which brought together more than 50 participants, targeted youths from some localities of Buea Municipality of the South West Region of Cameroon. Most of the population especially in the armed conflict-hit regions, the North West and South West Regions have not been vaccinated and this has largely been because of the misinformation according to HIC.
While welcoming the participants, the founding President of HIC, Ms Futih Laura Nge, traces the mission and vision of the NGO. According to her, HIC focuses on advocating for the rights of women and girls, foster Women and girls’ interest in STEM (science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), enhance STEM education for girls and ensure they have access to all needed resources. In line with the project, she also explained the reasons for the organization of the workshop concerning the mission of HIC.
Dr Bill Mbianyor, one of the facilitators of the event which drew more than 50 youths from across Buea, enlightened Participants on what Vaccines are, why it is important to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the chemical components of the vaccine, who should get vaccinated, the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine and the side effects of the vaccine.
The bone of the matter during the interactive session with participants, the participants express their worries/concerns they had about the vaccine based on the myths and conspiracy theories circulated on the media. The majority of these participants believed that the COVID-19 vaccine can cause infertility and in some extreme cases death. Dr Mbianyor replied to these questions by listing names of vaccines that are made with similar technologies like that of the Covid-19 vaccine. Dr Mbianyor advises the participants not to have any fear or panic to take the vaccine because they are safe as any other vaccines
Another concern raised by the participants was why there have not been vaccines for HIV/AIDS which inexistent for more than a decade whereas it was so easy and fast to come up with that of Covid 19. According to Dr Bill, HIV and Aids have different variants from person to person. Thus, it is very challenging to have a particular vaccine for the HIV/AIDS virus. At the end of his session, participants were able to understand the importance of taking the COVID-19 vaccines while others resolving to take the vaccine and equally pass on the knowledge they had gained to others.
Ms Fomenky Christina, the second facilitator presented 30-minute spoken word poetry about the Myths of Covid-19 and the reason these myths should be demystified. The participants welcomed her presentation as they poured recommendations while promising to sensitize their communities on the importance of taking the COVID-19 vaccines.
About the Organization:
The HIC is a non-governmental, apolitical and non-profit making organization focused on advocating for the rights of women and girls, foster Women and girls’ interest in STEM (science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), enhance STEM education for girls and ensure they have access to all needed resources. It seeks to engage girls and women from all the ten regions of Cameroon in the participation and inclusion in governance processes through seminars, conferences and projects. In addition, these women and girls will be mentored through high school, college and into career life to prevent women from abandoning STEM fields. Discover more about HIC through the link below: About Us – HIC (herinnovation.org)
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
