Covid-19 stigma rife in Chililabombwe

HEALTH experts in Chililabombwe have advised against stigmatisation of Covid-19 patients and individuals have recovered from the disease.

Stigmatisation in the border town has worried the district health office, which has appealed to residents to desist from the retrogressive trend.

Chililabombwe district Health Director, Martha Chakulimba, said it was of concern that individuals coming out of quarantine were being stigmatised in the communities.

Dr Chakulimba said the stigma was coming from members of the community once someone who had recovered from the virus re-joined society from isolation.

She said the district health office was looking at how the issue would be dealt with in order to move from the stigmatisation.

The District Health Director stated that it was important to educate the public that Covid-19 was something that could affect anyone, thus the need to stop the stigma.

She indicated that as the health office worked on strengthening prevention strategies there was also need to control stigma.

Dr Chakulimba stated that the health office had continued to work on preventive strategies in order to avoid falling into uncontrollable cases of COVID-19.

She indicated that her office was working with the officers at the Kasumbalesa border as well as the mines in order to ensure that economic activities did not collapse.

Dr Chakulimba said her office was also working with the local authority, which was conducting patrols to ensure preventive guidelines were being followed.