New York, April 18, 2020:
The Mbaise Policy Roundtable (MPR), with offices in Owerri Imo State and New York, USA, is revving up to implement an innovative best-in-class public health initiative called “MPR Coronavirus Prevention Awareness Program, MCPAP” in Mbaise, Imo State- a rural but very educated Nigerian community.
The MCPAP was described during a conference call, by Professor Eddie Oparaoji, MPR Chairman, as “.. a carefully designed community based public health enhancing program, based on knowledge of what obtains in the United States and other first world economies, to accomplish three main objectives. First, is to enhance the COVID 19 functional and professional knowledge capacity of about 250 participating healthcare informants, evenly distributed across the three LGAs (Aboh, Ahiazu, Ezinihitte) of Mbaise. Second is to empower our citizens with requisite knowledge to make the right COVID 19 prevention behavioral choices, without coercion, that keeps us all safe, and third is to provide some stimulus to our local economy through the stipends paid these healthcare informants and patronizing of local vendors”.
It will be recalled from recent reports, that the MCPAP was described as a “best-in-class” initiative, designed and embarked upon following comprehensive discussions by MPR health Program Sector leaders, with healthcare resources from the LGAs, Imo State Government and WHO. It would uniquely adapt coronavirus prevention global best practices to the people’s way of life, using community based trained health resources. Already, the ministry of health has in place a surveillance system comprising Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) and community informants whose experience and expertise are being leveraged at the community level to successfully implant this initiative. In each of the political wards of the three LGAs of Mbaise, five community informants would be recruited. These community informants would be trained by the DSNOs on the messages they would deliver to the community.
Operations in the three LGAs will be supervised by three coordinators- one per LGA, and they will at the end of four weeks, collaborate with the DSNOs to generate a detailed report of the intervention and a comprehensive feedback on its effectiveness and efficacy. Based on expert guidelines and the state of the pandemic, there could be a review, modification of this intervention to address the emerging new realities or complete cessation of the program.
MPR is the premier pre-eminent Mbaise Public Policy and Business Advisory Council in the world, focused entirely on the development of Mbaise and Imo State, through the facilitation of financial and in-kind resources, private investments and private public partnerships. MPR is situated to liaise, partner, and/or collaborate with international entities, the Imo State Government and agencies, and the private sector to produce and advance policies that will fast track Mbaise and Imo State development to a first world status.
Yes, in anything we do in life, with out good health, we can’t thrive. A sound mind, body and soul, is next to godliness. So the awareness and community sensitization of “CoVid 19” and other illnesses and diseases, is the beginning of ‘wisdom’. I so much admire this initiative, and would love to be involved.