ABSTRACT
The outbreak of COVID-19 has accentuated the significance and potency of utilising social media for health communication campaign. Consequently, individuals and organisations like the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) leveraged upon the multifarious advantages of social media platforms to disseminate relevant health information to wide range of audience. This study, therefore, examines Jalingo residents’ perception of social media campaign for health communication by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on COVID-19. The study was anchored on perception theory as theoretical framework, whereas mixed method approach was adopted with survey and in-depth interview as the research designs. The study specifically sought to assess the awareness level of Jalingo residents and to ascertain the perception of the residents towards social media campaign for health communication on COVID-19. Among other things, the study found out that there is high level of awareness of social media campaign for health communication on COVID-19 among Jalingo residents. In addition, the perception and attitude of the residents were both found out to be positive, as it influenced the audience to comply with COVID-19 safety protocols. Among other things, it was recommended that deliberate and consistent efforts should be made by NCDC to maintain the positive perception they have earned from the COVID-19 health communication campaign on social media. The study, therefore, concludes that social media played a prominent role in propagating NCDC’s health communication campaign to a wide range of audiences, which was instrumental in consolidating government’s efforts in fighting COVID-19 virus in Nigeria.
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