14 Jan 2014

Batswana have been called upon to utilise their talents and skills to serve the nation and to put into practice the Vision 2016 pillars as well as achieving the six objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Old Naledi nursing officer, Ms Direpang Segosebe of Old Naledi clinic said this when addressing Maun police officers about cough etiquette and disseminating the knowledge they acquired to better serve the community.

She said as police officers, they dealt with the community night and day and hence the need for them to be well aware of how they could prevent the spread of tuberculosis and caution the community on coughing etiquette.

Ms Segosebe said she was using her professional expertise and time off from work to benefit Batswana and she further urged all Batswana to cultivate a sense of social responsibility.

She said the World Health Organization (WHO) insisted on people coughing into their arms instead of their hands since they eat with their hands as well as performing a lot of other tasks with them.

For his part, Maun station commander, Superintendent Kenny Badumetse commended Ms Segosebe for using her time on leave to share with them this important message.

She also held talks with Standard 5, 6 and 7 pupils from Bonatla, Thamalakane and Moremi primary schools where she urged the pupils to disseminate the information they learnt about the airborne disease to curb its spread since prevention is better than cure.

Ms Segosebe said knowledge was power and teaching children vital information at a young age ingrains it in their psyche about the right way of doing things and also share that knowledge with others.

She also commended the police and schools for taking the message a step further as they vouched to incorporate community service prevention of pulmonary tuberculosis into their wellness programmes. ENDS