Should Coronavirus (COVID-19) Patients and Survivor Victims Be Shown on Television?

There are some individuals especially in some African countries, who are still in denial of the existence of Covid-19. Covid-19 cases are surging worldwide and it is very disappointing to still have people say the pandemic is a “hoax”. For example, In Cameroon, I went out a couple of days ago to run some errands and overheard some people at a grocery store say “the Government is only interested in displaying numbers and are not showing the people that have contracted or survived the Coronavirus”. And it got me thinking, do we need to see the Covid-19 patients and survivors on television in order to believe that Covid-19 is real?

By now, each and every one of us has a family member, friends, colleagues or ourselves who has contracted Covid-19 and are weary of letting anyone else know about it. Why? Stigmatization. Stigmatization is the act of labeling, disapproval, condemning or discriminating against a person based on their health, race, gender and culture [1]. Our society has a habit of discriminating against people who are linked to or have contracted a disease. Till date, some HIV and Ebola survivors in most African Countries are still stigmatized in their communities.

Stigmatization leads to isolation, depression, refusing medical treatments, stereotyping and discrimination [1]. I do not know about you but with such mindsets, would you like to see yourself or your loved ones exposed on television just so they can convince some stubborn individuals of the existence of Covid-19? Till the mindsets of some individuals especially in the African society change, I am against the idea of showing any Covid-19 patient and survivor victims on television. Public Health Professionals should continue to educate, and speak out against negative behaviors or statements made against Covid-19 survivor victims especially on social media. Please be kind to one another and remember that we are all in this together. We will not win this battle if we are divided.

References

1. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). (2020). Retrieved 14 July 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/reducing-stigma.html