Libraries and Health Literacy Campaigns as Veritable Tools for Curtailment of COVID- 19 in Nigeria

Abstract

Health literacy is an important aspect of preventive measures in curtailing the spread of diseases in the society. This is due to the fact that a health literate person understands his/her health status, take prevention and control measures of various diseases. The purpose of this paper was to discuss how libraries and deployment of health literacy campaigns can prevent, control and curtail the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria. The researchers reviewed several literatures and found out that libraries have a big role to play to ensure that community recognises their information needs, search for relevant information and make use of the information to make informed health decisions. The study concluded that COVID-19 imposes a double burden of health emergency and economic crisis on government and the people. Therefore, it becomes imperative for all stakeholders including the libraries to be deeply involved in health literacy campaigns in order to curtail the spread of the pandemic code named COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Keywords: Health Literacy, Libraries, COVID-19, Nigeria

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-17-08

Publication date:June 30th 2020