SUN REPORTER writes
@SunZambian
COVID-19 patients deserve access to information, entertainment and news and hence the decision to donate a Smart TV and decoder to the Mazabuka Covid-19 isolation centre, TopStar Public Relations manager Joy Chula has said.And in receiving the donation, Mazabuka District health director Dr Phallon Mwaba said the treatment of COVID-19 is not only dependent on medication but also requires managing the psychological condition of patients admitted to isolation wards across various health facilities.“Once patients are admitted to the isolation wards, the process of recovery is not just about being given medicine but also the psychological aspect of treatment,” Dr Mwaba said.The District Health Director was speaking when he received a donation of a Smart TV and decoder from TopStar Communications Company Limited for the COVID-9 Isolation facility.Dr Mwaba expressed gratitude for the gesture and urged other corporate companies to emulate TopStar in assisting to provide access to information and entertainment to the patients and members of staff who were confined to the isolation facility with just phones as tools for communication.“This donation will play a big role in psychological treatment of our patients and they will now have access to news and information not only in Zambia but across the world,” he said.And TopStar Public Relations Manager Joy Chula said as a Public Signal distributor, the company had the responsibility to distribute signal to all parts of the country and ensure that Zambian households had access to information and watch affordable TV.Ms Chula said through this donation, every patient in the isolation facility at the district hospital could have access to local news and information, as well as follow what was being done to help raise awareness of COVID-19.“As a public signal distributor it is our responsibility to make sure that TopStar distributes signal to every part of the country so that people can access information through digital TV. Patients deserve to have access to news and information as a way to raise awareness that COVID 19 is real and for them to see what is happening across the country,” she said.
Ms Chula also said as the function of a signal distributor was necessary and significant in the communication and media space, it was important that TopStar put in place measures that will keep digital television broadcasting operational for the general public to receive signal and access information during the pandemic and support to the Mazabuka District Hospital isolation facility was one of them. “TopStar understands that the accuracy of information weighs much in our fight against the pandemic, thus we will actively co-operate with relevant Government Departments and Agencies to deal with and control the current situation,” she said.
