SOCIAL STIGMATIZATION AROUND COVID-19



Is social -stigmatization the way to Covid-19 ?



 
I am sure you agree with me it’s not the way to go. But why is it happening in our society?
Just the day we saw how a lady in Nakuru was harshly treated by her neighbors after finishing her self-isolation. No one wanted to be associated with her. To make matters worse they killed all her snails she had kept for business.

Other incidents have occurred too for instance where Asian-Americans and Chinese were thought to spread the disease. As people get locked in their homes for fear of corona, those thought to spread it stayed indoors too. They feared been attacked by people due to stigmatization.

What is social -stigmatization?
According to WHO social-stigma is negative association between a person or group of people who share certain characteristics and a specific disease. We therefore discriminate people thinking they are the ones spreading the disease, because they are sick, working as health workers and mingle with the sick or are simply suspected to have the disease.
Why should these happen yet we have gone through other pandemics?

Impacts of social-stigma especially on Covid-19
ü  Can lead to mental issues
ü  Creates fear of people getting tested
ü  The affected persons isolate themselves and can commit suicide
                                         
How do curb social-stigmatization on covid -19
Ø  Being equipped with facts about the disease- from how it spreads, signs and symptoms and proactive measures
Ø  Reaching out to people in remote areas who cannot information from the media
Ø  Creating support groups for the most affected persons like the sick to share their feelings, health workers to air out what they are going through while battling the pandemic and the quarantined people.
Ø  Avoid sharing wrong information on social media concerning covid-19 or sharing jokes around it that can simply affect others.UNICEF organization gives us more guidelines on this.

We should also show love to all the affected. Even if we cannot visit them a phone call is more than enough to check on them. Words of encouragement are better than stigma. If anything, no one called for the disease, anyone can be infected.

Let us join hands and fight covid-19 without STIGMATIZATION.


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