(SLENA, 5th October, 2021). The Initiatives for Media Development (IMdev) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on Friday shared the findings of the first round of panel survey on the effects of COVID-19 on women and children in Sierra Leone. The survey which involved 880 women across the country found that other (non-spousal) relations (88.7% of the women surveyed) and radio (87.9%) were the leading sources of COVID-19 information. Radio was an important source of COVID-19 information despite low radio ownership (51.6%) and use (29.5% used it often) among the surveyed women.
Presenting the findings at the retreat of the Public Information, Risk Communications and Social Mobilization (PiRCSM) pillar of the National Covid-19 Emergency Response Centre (NaCOVERC) in Port Loko, the lead researchers Dr Frank Baiden, Associate Professor, LSHTM and Yeama Sarah Thompson, Founder of IMdev and fellow of the Open Data Institute reported that the most common determinants of the sources of COVID-19 information were a women’s educational status and wealth (based on household asset possessions). The dissemination generated very engaging discussions on how to empower women in Sierra Leone through increased radio ownership and use. Alfred Jamiru, Social Mobilisation Lead of the PiRCSM pillar described the dissemination of the findings as timely as NaCOVERC and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation are currently strategizing on how best to improve the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine by women in the country.
The survey was funded with a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) of United Kingdom Research and Innovation.
