Niger experienced its first positive case of coronas virus on March 19, 2020. Immediately, the authorities, in partnership with health experts, took steps not only to reduce the circulation of the virus but also and above all to take it into account. burden of patients with this disease which surprised the whole world and which has left thousands of families in mourning with nearly 3,500,000 deaths. In Niger, as of April 28, 2021, the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic is as follows: total cases confined: 25,217 cases confined, 25,129 released from confinement, 88 cases under self-containment. The weekly incidence rate is still decreasing with a Ratio of 0.237 as of April 25, 2021. Regarding the response strategy, a total of 98,294 tests were carried out on April 28, 2021 at the end of which 5,224 cases are confirmed, 4,847 left cured, or a cure rate of 92.7%, 191 deaths were recorded, or a case fatality rate of 3.6% and 186 active patients, of whom 52 were in hospital, none of whom were in intensive care.
These relatively “ positive ” results recorded by Niger would certainly have been better, if and only if rumors and other fake news had not hampered the momentum of awareness, information and training program for citizens started in March 2020 by the political and health authorities of our country. These fake-news are widely dispatched by social networks and certain media. This information, which often goes so far as to deny the existence of this pandemic, including misconceptions about the fact that the virus cannot withstand the heat, especially in a Sahelian country like Niger. Some go so far as to convey that the vaccine is intended to limit births. Still others go so far as to alarm fellow citizens about the incompatibility of the Covid-19 vaccine with the Ramadan fast.
In this blessed month of Ramadan such misinformation is so disastrous that despite the availability of vaccines, Nigeriens are reluctant to be vaccinated, taking into account all this fake news. During a meeting of the Committee in charge of managing this pandemic, the Minister in charge of Public Health, Dr Idi Illiassou Maïnassara, regretted that as of April 20, 2021, less than 10,000 people had been vaccinated in Niger, while the stock of vaccines available is estimated at nearly 800,000 doses. Having been questioned about the impact of the said vaccine on fasting, the Imam of the Great Mosque of Niamey, Cheick Karanta was formal: “The vaccine against the Covid-19 pandemic has no effect on the religious practice of loyal. It is rather a protection for the youngster and for the other faithful ”, declared the religious leader.
Approaching in the same direction, Oustaz Bassirou Alassane, the Imam of the Abidjan neighborhood mosque, believes that when it comes to religion, it’s like being healthy, it is better to be safe than sorry. “You should not expose yourself to any danger or even expose your neighbor to danger, especially if you find the solution. Each disease that appears has its medicine and even its prevention ”, explains the religious. Virologist Sani Maazou, from the Lahiya Clinic in Niamey, insists on the existence of the virus. “Around the world, the Covid-19 virus does exist. Its existence is irrefutable. Just look at the death toll from this pandemic. Niger recorded 191 deaths at the end of April, with a case fatality rate of 3.6%. So the existence of the virus is undeniable, ”he explains. “I hear, here and there, that the virus of this disease is not resistant to our desert and Sahelian climate. This is extremely false, ”he declares. The proof, specifies the doctor, “most of the positive cases recently recorded in Niger are migrants, in Agadez, from countries like Algeria and Libya, which are countries as desert and hot as Niger, if not more. even hot, ”says the clinician.
Receiving the 355,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, shipped through the COVAX mechanism, on April 14, 2021, Minister Maïnassara indicated that “ the Government of Niger has made ordering these vaccines a top priority. in order to protect its population, in a global context where the pandemic continues to wreak havoc. These first doses of vaccines will primarily target frontline workers such as caregivers, teachers and those at greatest risk of contracting the disease, ”said Dr Illiassou Idi Mainassara. In order to reject these Fake News the government authorities in Niger have made several statements and developed legal instruments to punish the authors of Fake News.
In addition to the vaccine, compliance with barrier measures must be required to put an end to Covid-19
“While vaccines are important, respect for barrier gestures – including hand washing and wearing a mask and physical distancing remain the best way to stem the spread of the pandemic,” recalled Dr Illiassou Idi Mainassara.
Indeed, to avoid a 2nd or even a 3rd wave of this pandemic, the virologist Sani Maazou believes that citizens must continue to observe these measures but especially to be vaccinated. Thus, to fight against the proliferation of fake news, Dr Saley Insa, member of the Pandemic Management Committee, makes a few recommendations: “to the Government to adopt policies promoting access to information on the pandemic as well as response measures; proactively providing information to the media as well as the public, raising awareness and publicly discouraging the production and publication of Fakes News; to inform and train journalists, including religious columnists and journalists in national languages, on the causes and modes of transmission of COVID-19 so that they can better inform and raise awareness among the population ”.
For socio-professional media organizations, the Doctor recommends organizing periodic training for journalists on Fact-checking, training journalists and civil society activists on the collection of local texts on Fakes News, strengthening journalists’ skills in editorial practices and urge them to avoid the scoop culture. To the media, Dr Saley Insa proposes to check the information several times before publication, to create spaces or opportunities to publish denials in cases where the published information contained errors and to massively publish these denials, to strengthen at the individual level the information verification skills, to create a list of resource people able to confirm relevant information before it is published and finally to constantly flush out false information on social networks when necessary.
Mahamadou Diallo (onep)
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