The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
COVID-19 statistics
Just about half of the Ugandans (49%) said they “somewhat” trust or trust “a lot” the government’s COVID-19 statistics while 47% trust the statistics “just a little” or “not at all.”
The trust in government statistics is highest amongst women (54%) and those who feel closer to the ruling NRM party (65%). Trust is also highest amongst people with no formal schooling (68%) than those with post-secondary qualifications (35%).
Trust in the government is also highest among people aged 50 years and above (63%) compared to those aged between 18-30 years old (43%). Trust is also highest among people from western Uganda (65%) compared to those from central Uganda (27%).
According to the survey, mistrust in official statistics appears to have increased with increasing education attainment, as well as residence in urban areas, Central region, being male, the young and opposition support.
When it comes to attitudes towards the vaccine, seven in 10 Ugandans (71%) say they are likely to try to get vaccinated if a vaccine becomes available and the government says it is safe.
Whereas about three-fourths of citizens say they are likely to try to get vaccinated, only about half trust the government to ensure the vaccine is safe. If mass vaccination is to succeed, the government, civil society, and media will have to sensitize the public to increase confidence in vaccines.
However, only about half trust the government to ensure that any COVID-19 vaccine is safe before it is used in this country. A quarter of Ugandans believe prayer is more effective than a vaccine would be in preventing COVID-19 infection.
These findings speak to the observed low uptake of the current COVID-19 vaccination programme. According to the Ministry of Health statistics, 706,626 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Uganda as of June 02. If mass vaccination is to succeed, stakeholders will have to work to increase public confidence in the available vaccines, the Afrobarometer survey notes.
Only about half (49%) say they trust the government “somewhat” or “a lot” to ensure that any COVID-19 vaccine is safe before it is used in this country. However, the trust in government to ensure safety of vaccine is highest amongst women (52%), people from western Uganda (67%), rural-based populations (53%) and the illiterate (67%). It is also highest amongst those who feel closer to the NRM party (66%).
Older Ugandans (those above 50 years) also trust more in government ensuring safety of vaccines (58%). However, trust is weaker among urban residents (38%), citizens with secondary school education (38%) or post-secondary education (38%), supporters of the political opposition (24%), residents of the Central region (23%), and the youth (45%).
The respondents were asked to look ahead and gauge how serious of a problem the COVID-19 pandemic would be for Uganda over the next six months; about 95% of Ugandans said they expected the pandemic to be serious over the next six months.
Asked further if they agreed or disagreed that the government needs to invest more of the country’s health resources in special preparations to respond to health emergencies like COVID-19, even if it means fewer resources available for other health services, 59% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed to the need for greater investment to prepare health emergencies.
Francis Kibirige, the national coordinator of Hatchille Consult told The Independent the government should take this as a good opportunity to re-energize the fight against the pandemic.
“It is still possible to get to the people and mobilise them to the levels seen in the early days of the pandemic. It is also important for government officials to find a way of communicating away all the negative issues (misconceptions about the pandemic).”
“The government needs to let health professionals take the lead role in communicating re-assuring messages. When a health professional speaks about health, ordinary people take in the messages more than when they listen to politicians, policemen or the military.”
“There is still a big number of Ugandans who don’t trust the government in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. They see government officials using the COVID-19 pandemic to profiteer or enrich themselves.”
Kibirige told The Independent that it appears Ugandans would be prepared to go into the second lockdown if they perceived the government interventions meant to help them cope with the lockdown as sufficient.
****
