Stigmatisation obstacle to COVID-19 fight — Gyan-Baffuor
The Minister of Planning, Professor George Gyan-Baffuor, has cautioned Ghanaians against stigmatising victims of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and their families since such attitude is an impediment to efforts to stop the spread of the pandemic.
He said there was the need for Ghanaians to apprise themselves of the real facts about the disease to put them in a position to sift the actual facts about the disease from fake news being thrown at them on both social and some traditional media.
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According to him, victims of the disease who had eventually been declared negative had gone through a lot of ordeals and needed to be shown love instead of being shunned by members of their communities.
Presentation
Prof. Gyan-Baffuor, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi, gave the advice when he presented Veronica buckets and some sanitary kits to the Methodist Hospital at Wenchi in the Bono Region last Tuesday.
"We are all at risk as far the disease is concerned. It is never the fault of those who have fallen victim to COVID-19," he stated, explaining that Ghanaians should understand that anyone could get infected.
He also explained that knowledge about the real facts of the disease would enable the people to appreciate why they should observe safety protocols such as frequent handwashing with soap under running water and social distancing among others, to reduce their chances of contracting the disease.
Prof. Gyan-Baffuor gave an assurance that the government would continue putting measures in place to halt the spread of the disease and called on the people to play their part "since we are together in this fight".
Appreciation
The Medical Officer at the hospital, Dr Boateng Bosomtwe, who received the donation on behalf of management and staff of the facility, thanked the minister for his gesture.
He promised that the hospital would make good use of the items to protect both staff and patients of the facility.
Dr Bosomtwe disclosed that since the outbreak of the disease, the Wenchi Methodist Hospital had encountered two suspected cases who had both tested negative.
He said the hospital had put in place measures to protect its staff from contracting the disease and called on individuals and groups to continue to support the hospital to enable it to discharge its duties efficiently.