Dr. Rajitha's opinion on Covid-19 outbreak

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3. Social stigma associated with Covid 19 a guide to preventing and addressing socialstigmaThe current Covid19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatorybehaviors against people of certain ethnic backgrounds as well as anyoneperceived to have been in contact with the virus.What is the impactStigma can undermine social cohesion and prompt possible social isolation ofgroups, which might contribute to a situation where the virus is more not less,likely to spread. This can result in more severe health problems and difficultiescontrolling a disease outbreak.Stigma can:Drive people to hide the illness to avoid discrimination.Prevent people from seeking healthcare immediately.Discourage them from adopting healthy behaviors.DOS and DONTSDONT – attach locations or ethnicity to the disease.DONT – talk about people “Transmitting Covid 19” “Infecting others” or“spreading the virus” as it implies intentional transmission and assign blame.Using criminalizing or dehumanizing terminology creates the impression thatthose with the disease have somehow done something wrong or are less humanthan the rest of us, feeding stigma, undermining empathy and potentially fuelingunder reluctance to seek treatment or attend screening, testing and quarantine.Make sure you portray different ethnic groupsAll materials should show diverse communities being impacted and workingtogether to prevent the spread of Covid 19. Ensure that typeface, symptoms andformats are neutral and don’t suggest any particular group.
Ethical JournalismJournalistic reporting which overly focuses on individual behavior and patientsresponsibility for having and “spreading Covid 19” can increase stigma of peoplewho may have the disease.UNICEF & WHO – 24/02/20204. Statement on Covid 19 : Ethical considerations from a global perspectiveOn both national and international levels, health and social policies should bebased on solid scientific evidence, taking into account the uncertainties that existduring pandemic, especially when caused by a novel pathogen, and should beguided by global ethical considerations.Political decisions should be based on sound scientific knowledge.The IBC and COMEST stress that policies which are not based on sound scientificknowledge and practices are unethical as they work against the effort to build acommon response to the pandemic.Statement of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (IBC) and theUNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge andTechnology (COMEST)
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Dr. Rajitha's opinion on Covid-19 outbreak

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