Covid-19 awareness campaign stressed

LAHORE:Findings of a scientific research have revealed that increased frequency of following media indicates that health awareness campaigns are important for enhancing the knowledge of the general public regarding Covid-19. It found that awareness and knowledge related to Covid-19 symptoms and preventive measures significantly increased over time among people.

The research titled “Role of media in health-related awareness campaigns on the perception towards 2019 Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19): A pre-post study in the general population in Rawalpindi, Pakistan” has been jointly conducted by Punjab University’s Institute of Social and Cultural Studies (ISCS) Director Prof Dr Rubina Zakar and PhD Public Health scholar Atta-ur-Rehman.

Dr Rubina Zakar said in a statement that the study used pre-post design among 384 respondents. She said the first response (t1) from participants was filled in the first week of February 2020 before any confirmed case reported in the country and the second response (t2) after one month of the first case detection in Pakistan (March 2020).

She said according to the findings of the result, a more frequent use of electronic media is associated with higher knowledge gains from t1 to t2. She said media health awareness campaigns were started just after the detection of the first case in Pakistan.

She said the exposure to media as well as the knowledge related to Covid-19, particularly related to its symptoms and frequent hand-washing as a preventive measure increased over time. She said media had already served as an important source for health education and promotion in our societies for decades.