MOH tests people’s trust in gov’t in new COVID-19 survey

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  Ministry of Health-MOH has embarked on a survey to test people’s trust in government, risk perception and willingness to adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures. This comes in the wake of increased community infections and dwindling trust in interventions to stop COVID-19 transmissions.

Dr. Arthur Kiconco, the principal investigator on the study told URN this morning that they are asking people such that the feedback they get helps them inform the kind of interventions that work best depending on people’s perception.  

Key among the questions is how much trust people have in information provided by the government about the pandemic,  how much trust they have in the effectiveness of the measures already undertaken by government  and government’s ability to fight the pandemic. 

Already Kiconco says, early respondents show low trust in government. 

The study is targeted at social media users on Facebook and Twitter considering social media’s rising clout in setting the agenda of what the public discusses and general perceptions.  Kiconco says they have also shared the link widely on Whatsapp so that a wide range of people can be reached.

This is the second time the ministry is conducting a survey after the initial one conducted in April guided them on how to come up with proper messaging for communities. Then, Kiconco says the focus was on truck drivers at the borders as they were the primary source of infection then, a thing that has since changed with this group currently contributing 6% to the total number of infections. 

Then the kind of questions they paused in the survey ranged from general awareness about how the disease spreads, what quarantine is all about and the lockdown. 

Now, all of those have since been halted. 

According to statistics shared by Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the Director-General of Health Services, a total number of 117 districts had been affected by COVID-19 by Friday. To date, the country has recorded a 11,443 infections and 101 deaths.

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URN