Fighting to decrease Covid-19 spread

News about a surge in new Covid-19 cases between May to June 2022 not only created fear and anxiety among business operators at Chezi Trading Centre in Dowa, but also educated minds at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Lilongwe.

Forty-three-year-old Ellen Chotsa said vendors were particularly concerned that the new wave of the pandemic would have a devastating effect on their businesses.

“We feared that the increase in new cases would prompt authorities to direct closure of markets because that would have been disastrous to our businesses,” said Chotsa, who comes from Munika Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Chiwere in Dowa.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) estimates that over 80 percent of Malawi’s population depends on raid-fed agriculture or small-scale businesses.

Findings of a study by Concern Worldwide established that there was a feeling among rural communities that Covid-19 had negatively impacted their livelihoods.

But those operating small businesses such as selling tomatoes and other agricultural produce felt the pinch when government implemented stringent measures to combat the pandemic.

They included restricting movement of people and this resulted in loss of business.

Agnes Thomas of Ntakuzi, T/A Chakhaza in Dowa testified of how her business continues to struggle due to the effects of Covid-19.

“I used to sell five basins of tomatoes per day at Mponela Trading Centre.

“But I hardly sell three these days because people do not have money,” she says.

Ironically, Chotsa and Thomas are among those who have not yet gone for vaccination because of beliefs, myths, misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the vaccines.

“We are being told that the vaccine was made to reduce fertility rates among rural folks. That is why we do not want to take it,” says Thomas, who has five children.

To demystify these myths and based on Ministry of Health updates, National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Public Trust is supporting the Malawi Government in implementing risk communication and community engagement interventions using various delivery platforms such as door-to-door, mobile van, community drama sessions and social media.

Nice is working with partners such as community radio stations, local councils, religious institutions, traditional leaders and civil society organisations on a rumour tracking tool which necessitated the need for more community engagement sessions to clarify them.

The trust’s district civic education for Lilongwe Urban and Dowa, Hajira Ali, says Covid-19 has not only affected lives of children and their families in towns, but also in the villages where farming and small-scale businesses take place.

She says this is why they have collaborated with the ministries of Health and National Unity in sensitising the masses to the cause of the disease, how it is spread, its effects on livelihoods and preventive measures.

Says Alli: “Nice is supporting the Government of Malawi in strengthening national Covid-19 response activities. It is also working with the Ministry of Information and Digitisation and local councils to ensure preventative actions in communities across Malawi with risk communication.

“We are engaging media and stakeholders to tackle misinformation so that children, pregnant women and their families know how to prevent Covid-19.”

Nice acting executive director Gray Kalindekafe discloses that the interventions have borne remarkable change in public perception towards Covid-19 vaccine.

He says Nice has even facilitated door-to-door immunisation to ensure those willing to get vaccinated do so right in the comfort of their backyards.

“We try as much as possible to ensure those in hard-to-reach areas are also targeted because if we do not make deliberate efforts to reach out to them, they often have to choose between using their money for transportation to a health facility or buy food for their families,” said Kalindekafe.