Members of the Government of Ghana COVID-19 sensitisation Team on Monday, March 23, 2020, engaged owners and practioners of media organisations with further sessions on sustaining public education on the pandemic.

The engagements were held separately at the premises of the Ministry of Information and the International Press Center all in Accra.

Government is using the engagements to primarily equip the media with the appropriate information on the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

Participants included representatives from the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Private Newspapers Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG),

The training programmes will be extended to all the regions within the week.

Addressing the gathering, the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Justice Yankson, admonished the media to “as much as possible, stick to the right professionals at all times" for information on the virus.

“You have the prerogative to invite people to your programmes but I think this time round, you should scrutinise the level of the professionals before they come out to put information that throws all the good work that the nation is doing into a state of confusion.

"The first-to-report syndrome, in-as-much-as it is a great asset for every media house, we think that this time, we should also be very circumspect [about] the way we apply it,” he advised

In the wake of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, the government has brought together both the media and medical fraternity in a bid to streamline the flow of information from health experts down to the vast majority of Ghanaians.

Last week, the government announced a collaboration with these key media umbrella bodies and the various medical associations in the country, to ensure information is disseminated smoothly.

This, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, pointed is to “support and ensure that public education goes well so that when the public knows what to do, we are all better protected.”

In addition, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Medical Association distributed flyers, handbill materials and self-quarantine guides, to educate the media and the congregation as well as the contact details of the regional and national response teams designated for communication on the COVID-19.

Other speakers included Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide; Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anothny Nsiah Asare; Deputy Health Minister, Alexander Abban and Dr Aboagye Dacosta of the Risk Communication Department of GHS.