PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

CIDRZ disassociates itself from Misleading Information circulating on Social Media regarding recent COVID-19 Cases

Lusaka, Zambia, 5^th January 2021  –   The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), has taken note of misleading information circulating on social media platforms regarding recent Covid-19 cases. The circulation suggests that an employee of CIDRZ attributed the recent Covid-19 positive cases to those members of the public, that visited the premises of a named social gathering.

Management would like to state that we take very seriously the confidentiality of all our clients’ information including any test results released by our Laboratory staff. Specifically, and related to the false information being circulated, CIDRZ does not collect any information relating to the potential source or exposure of COVID-19 infection from our clients. Further, only the Ministry of Health has the mandate to release any data related to COVID-19 cases and CIDRZ adheres to these guidelines.

We urge the members of the public to ignore and treat the said circulation as false information. Our COVID-19 testing process is simple and transparent and can be verified by any interested party to ascertain the nature of information gathered for purposes of conducting the COVID-19 PCR test.

Please feel free to address any concerns to our Central Laboratory Operations Manager or the Laboratory Director @ Lab_business@cidrz.org 

We invite the public to partner with CIDRZ in its  mission to have a Healthy Zambia by adhering to Ministry of Health guidelines for COVID-19 prevention.

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Issued By : 

Dr. Izukanji Sikazwe

Chief Executive Officer

Email : info@cidrz.org                      

Note to Editors

The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) is an independent nonprofit Zambian company, that is committed to answering key research questions relevant to Zambia and the region. It supports local ownership of high quality, complementary and integrated healthcare research and services within the Zambian public health system, and facilitates clinical, research and professional development training.

Through close and on-going collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ), Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Community Development (MCD) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and by partnering with leading local and international universities, CIDRZ ensures that the latest research methodologies are used to answer locally relevant questions and improve healthcare delivery.

CIDRZ has been conducting research studies for over a decade focused on evidence-based knowledge translation. With numerous health problems affecting the country, CIDRZ realized that better utilization of evidence in policy and practice can help save lives, reduce poverty and improve development performance of Zambia.

Based on Zambia National Health Research priority agenda, CIDRZ aims to identify locally-relevant, culturally-acceptable, resource-appropriate, evidence-based interventions that will influence evidence-based policy formulation. Therefore, in pursuit of evidence-based policy decisions informed by available systemic evidence that produce better outcomes, CIDRZ conducts research studies ranging from clinical trials, surveys, behavioral and implementation science studies.