….. Kicked against paid-to-lie info
By Chijioke Kingsley
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Country Director, Equity International Initiative (EII), and Convener, Citizens Coalition Against Impunity and Injustice, Amb. Chris Iyama, has said the information peddled by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in Nigeria, that there is an outbreak of Monkeypox in the country cannot be taken as the whole truth, as some of this negative information of outbreak of viruses are sponsored by international organizations for monetary gains.
EII said during the coronavirus pandemic, also known as COVID-19, the country made billions of dollars as well as international organizations (countries), as vaccines were sold in drones.
Recall that the African Union’s health watchdog has declared a public health emergency over the growing Mpox outbreak on the continent, saying the move is a “clarion call for action”.
The watchdog, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said the virus has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries.
“I declare with a heavy heart, but with an unyielding commitment to our people, to our African citizens, we declare pox as a public health emergency of continental security,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said during an online media briefing on last Tuesday.
“Mpox has now crossed borders, affecting thousands across our continent, families have been torn apart and the pain and suffering have touched every corner of our continent,” Kaseya had said.
In Nigeria, however, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on the 16th of August 2024 that it has confirmed 39 pox cases have spread across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with no reported deaths.
Responding, Iyama informed that the same narrative, like COVID-19, is being peddled again, calling on Nigerians not to allow themselves to be fooled the second time.
He cautioned media houses not to be carried away by huge money paid for advertorials and publicity to circulate health propaganda, an act he called “paid to lie”.
Explaining further, he said the then President of the United States, Donald Trump had called the COVID-19 pandemic “China Virus”, knowing that it was manufactured by the Chinese for monetary gains.
Iyama, who spoke to our correspondent on Wednesday, posited that the symptoms of the acclaimed disease (coronavirus) were normal fever that Nigerians could treat by over-the-counter drugs, which proved very effective as most people testified of getting healed by taking the usual malaria drugs.
Describing the disease as a hoax, he also advised Nigerians to verify every health information that has global connotation, especially when it is coming from international bodies, before falling for it.
He asked rhetorically if anybody has seen any of the victims of Mpox? Which hospital are they? Etc.
Iyama wants a country and a world that is free from extortion of citizens through false information on public health just because billions of dollars would be made.
He wants the world to know that they cannot be controlled by a few who wish to determine or control their future by rolling out false health information that will to a large extent control their minds, our correspondent reports.
