Roles of Heath Education and Promotion in Combating Covid-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried to assess the roles of health education and promotion in Nigeria. Coronaviruses belong to a large family of viruses causing a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from very mild i.e. Common cold to severe illness such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).In early August 2020, there were nearly 18 million confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), including 686,145 deaths globally; very rapid growth in prevalence since the first case was reported to the World Health Organization in December 2019 (WHO, 2020). In a desperate attempt to contain the further spread of the virus, governments across the world have taken public health interventions that are unprecedented. To prevent the further spread of COVID-19 infection, many countries have taken strict measures such as the complete lockdown of a country restricting the movement of people in public, forcing people to stay at home except for emergencies and certain essential jobs. At the same time countries are also trying to scale up their testing capacity and expand their contract tracing system while scientists around the world are in a race to develop a vaccine against the virus as well as drugs to alleviate its symptoms. It is well-known that public health education plays a crucial role in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, but how health providers should advise families and parents to obtain health education information is a challenging question. With COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) spreading around the world, this rapid review aims to answer that question and thus to promote evidence-based decision making in health education policy and practice Keywords: SARS-CoV, WHO, Nigeria, Corona Virus, Health Education, COVID 19, Pandemic