Sixty participants drawn from six drama groups across the West Coast Region Tuesday concluded a two-day training exercise on the signs and symptoms of Ebola at the Somita health facility in Foni Berefet district.
The training session was organized by the directorate of Health Promotion and Education, and funded by UNDP with technical support from WHO.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the director of health promotion and education, Modou Njai, spoke at length on the importance of the training exercise, whose aim was to build the capacity and skills of the participants to enable them sensitize people in their districts, communities, clusters and households through drama.
According to him, drama is one of the most effective ways of spreading information at the grassroots, while reminding participants to use the 1025 number in order to report any suspected case of Ebola.
Njai announced that similar training sessions on drama skills and message dissemination on Ebola will be conducted in all the regions.
Each group will go back to its district and discuss with the village alkalo and VDC on how to perform 10 drama plays in different communities, he said.
Njai stressed that skills and message dissemination on Ebola health information is key.
The health promotion and education deputy director, Mohammed Saho, urged participants to also strengthen information dissemination on personal hygiene in order to keep the Gambia free from Ebola.
The programme officer at the health communication unit under health promotion, Awa Sanyang, also called for concerted efforts in strengthening the surveillance system, while commending the participants for their dedication and commitment to disseminate the information gained.
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