Chandigarh, October 20, 2021: Dr Yash Paul Sharma HOD, Cardiology, PGI Chandigarh today said he had developed a toolkit for cardiac patients in remote areas of the country who are more vulnerable to COVID -19. He was speaking at the ‘OneWorld-UNDP Webinar on Building Capacity of Community Radio Stations to Fight COVID-19’.
He also dwelt on the need to train Asha workers who can be the first line of responders to such patients once they get trained to use this toolkit and Community Radios can play a positive role on this. He emphasised that cardiac patients need to not only continue with their treatment, but also get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Rajesh Bhushan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India, in his inaugural address at the webinar said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a multi-faceted challenge to humanity and it calls for all of us to fight it together. Community Radio Stations have a special role in this fight against COVID-19 because they have a community connect in their areas,”
Community Radio Stations have an important role to play not only in giving local communities a voice to make themselves heard, but also to deliver timely, accurate and useful information to people affected by COVID-19, he added.
“Building the knowledge and skills of community radio practitioners can make a difference in the way people think and act in view of the continued threat of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Abha Negi, Managing Director, OneWorld.
OneWorld Foundation India (OneWorld) and UNDP are organising a pilot of two webinars to strengthen the capacity of Community Radio Stations in creating awareness on COVID-19, promoting COVID-appropriate behaviour, and removing vaccine hesitancy in people. OneWorld, a nonprofit company, works very closely with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Community Radio Stations in the country.
Earlier in her Special Address, Nadia Rasheed, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP India, talked about how UNDP is supporting the Govt of India in its fight against the pandemic. “We are working with the Govt of India in this fight against COVID-19 and will continue to do so.” She added that she is happy to see Community Radio Stations as part of this endeavour.
In his Valedictory Address, Prof Vinod Pavarala, Senior Professor of Communication & Unesco Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad, said: Community Radios' work duirng the Pandemic has been stellar and while others were still grappling with the situations CRs took the challenge headon and carried on to desemminate COVID-19 awareness information. Community radio stations are stressed for resources and the government can help. For instance the Universal Service Obligation Fund has more than 60 crores. It would go a long way in further strengthening CR stations and will be immensely usefu if even a small portion of of this fund can be used to support the CR community."
The webinars seek to enable Community Radio Stations to learn from experts as well as one another to arrive at an understanding of their ongoing and future work pertaining to COVID-19 related information and knowledge, and filter infodemic to draw genuine communication and also demystify disinformation, misinformation and malinformation.
The participants were addressed by an eminent panel of doctors like Dr Jugal Kishore, Director Professor and Head of Department, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi; Dr Yashpal Sharma, HOD - Cardiology, PGI Chandigarh; Dr Anil Agarwal, Director, GB Pant Hospital, Delhi, and Dr Mohd Aleem Arif, Public Health Advisor, WHO.
While Dr Jugal Kishore elaborated on the role of Community Radio Stations in this fight, Dr Anil Agarwal laid down a road map on how to do it. Dr Yashpal Sharma emphasised that cardiac patients need to not only continue with their treatment, but also get vaccinated. Dr Aleem Arif stressed on bottom up messaging instead of top down communication.
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