{UAH} MEDIA FRENZY ABOUT EBOLA

Friends

 

One of the reasons I have refused to post pieces about Ebola is that we can easily victimize ourselves as Africans. And trust me there is a whole lot or writing about it some factual and some illusional. This society functions out of making society scared, and trust me the more fear we pump into society by these writings and posting them is the more we Africans are going to be victims. I have started to see questions in offices like have you travelled to West Africa lately? With that kind of questioning trust me you are soon going to see a policy covering that section. And trust me I have lived in this city when we got sars. Which brings me to what we make public by posting, few days ago either Gwokto or Simon posted a case in Toronto of a man suspected to have Ebola. That posting went far out that someone called me from Sydney to wonder if we are okay, now the very terrible thing that was done was that this individual found it very necessary to  post a particular city with a particular disease possibility but never went back to repost what happened to it. Guess what the next phone call I got yesterday was all about, is that man dead yet? Why? Because you found it important  to post it but un important to post what happened after. That is sensationalism or building  hyper that will not affect this city but will affect any one  travelling out of Africa.

 

Let us examine the cases we have got yet, apart from a priest in Europe how many people do we actually know that have been positive with Ebola?  But so many have been listed to come to various cities, is it possible that any one coming in with a fever or a stomachache  is started by Ebola label? The Brampton case was very interesting, this poor fellow was literary detained in hospital rejected access to family and talked to through a glass window. Samples were dug out of him and not tasted in Toronto lab but sent to Calgary where we have the best lab in the country used even by the military. Two days later it came back negative. They did not tell him that he was negative but they woke up the minister of health and handed him the results till when the minister woke up next day to make a statement of the man does not have Ebola. Why was that message not posted? Because it is not sensational to Gwokto or Simon who ever posted it. Go back to all cities that have been laminated as holding an inbound passenger with Ebola many cleared already but that never make news, the news only exist when we lighten our face with there is a suspect in a Toronto hospital. Let us carry this issue with a knowledge that it affects us as Africans than anyone else or we will have more bad policies thrown at us or our people.

 

Enjoy the night.

 

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

 

                    Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"

 

From: ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com [mailto:ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Robukui .
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 1:44 AM
To: UAH; Allan Barigye.Rugos; Abbey Semuwemba; Gwokto La'Kitgum; Gook Akanga; Frank Mujabi; Matek Opoko; mitayopotojsi; Villager; Hajji Kateregga Musaazi; Hannah Ogwopiti; Minna Salami
Subject: {UAH} MEDIA FRENZY ABOUT EBOLA

 

Media frenzy about Ebola

AUGUST 6, 2014 BY MSAFROPOLITAN2 COMMENTS

On a flight to Lagos last week, a woman with a terrible chesty cough and feverish eyes sat a couple of seats away from me. Unlike many a public transportation commuter, the woman was considerate; she covered her mouth when she coughed and it was evident that she was trying to cough as little as she could despite her condition. Yet passengers around her seemed uncomfortable. A woman sitting next to her asked to be shifted to another seat, for example. Even the short-staffed cabin crew seemed a touch uncomfortable.

We were, after all, flying to a city that had just confirmed its first case of a disease, Ebola, that as far back as I can remember has been labelledone of the world's deadliest diseases, even worse than AIDS.

I too felt uneasy. Whenever the woman coughed I jerked my face toward the opposite direction so fast I almost caught whiplash. Would I behave in this way under pre-Ebola circumstances? Perhaps, but admittedly other people's health, or lack thereof, is of unusually high interest to me at present.

In Lagos too, the worry is apparent. Pamphlets about precautionary habits are being handed out. Hand sanitisers are sold out in pharmacies. People are being advised to avoid shaking hands with others. Even the legendary miracle healer, pastor T.B. Joshua, suspended his "healing" services to avoid spreading the virus. But also, as Nigerians tend to do when situations seem unbearable, there are light-hearted jokes about the ridiculousness of the frenzy.

It terrifies me to think what might happen if Ebola were to spread rapidly in Lagos, a city with near anarchic infrastructure and poor health care facilities which doubtful could cope with a mass outbreak. On the other hand, it is reassuring to see how proactive Lagosians are about preventing such an outbreak. This type of attentiveness and care is reflective of a city whose inhabitants, despite it all, are dedicated to making it a safe one. Moreover, Ebola does not spread rapidly. As The Guardian reports, "around 400 new cases were reported in June, and a further 500 or so in July. This is a linear spread, meaning each person at present is infecting on average around (actually just over) one additional person."

So here's the thing. What should be a real concern to not only West Africans but also to people everywhere is how efficiently, if unintentionally, the media can cause epidemic hysteria. Sociogenic hysteria of this nature is an extremely dangerous psychological state known to causesocial disorder and havoc. Although Ebola has no cure yet, at least not for Africans, and although the infected and their loved ones have suffered incomprehensibly from this unprecedented outbreak, it is worth remembering that since February 2014, 887 people have died of Ebola while 300,000 people have died from malaria and tuberculosis has claimed 600,000 lives in the same period of time.

Where is the media frenzy about that?

 

Viele GruBe

Robukui

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