Chief Executive Officer of Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa, Rev Dr. Kwabena Opuni Frimpong says persons who have recovered from coronavirus “must be seen as testimonies” of the reality of the virus.
He said, their survival stories should send hope to people adding, this can only be achieved if they are welcomed with opened arms back into the society.
According to him, stigmatization of such people rather hinders the fight against spread of the pandemic.
“If we relate with those who have recovered from the virus with isolation, and stigmatization, in a sense, we are not helping ourselves because then people who are getting the infections will decide to hide” he noted
Read also: COVID-19: Ghana will soon be battling stigma – UCC lecturer predicts
Rev Dr. Opuni-Frimpong, said victims of the virus should be given the needed support and as such has called on the general public to create a welcoming environment for patients of the virus.
“It is coming out gradually that people who have recovered are not been allowed to buy from some people, they have not been accepted. Even in families, people are isolating themselves” he lamented.
Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong made the call when he addressed the general public via his YouTube channel on supporting the fight against coronavirus.
Stigmatising people with Covid 19 is wide spread in Africa and some part of Latin America. In March, a suspected coronavirus sufferer in Kenya was beaten by a group of youths armed with stones and later died in hospital.
Read this too: Kenyan man is beaten to death by a mob of youths after they suspected him of having coronavirus
The man, named locally as George Kotini Hezron, was going home after visiting a bar when he was attacked by residents who suspected him of having the virus. They pelted stones at him before fleeing.
In Ghana, there have been countless stories of patients who have recovered from the virus having to battle another ordeal of stigmatization.
Experts warn a continuous increase in social stigma could worsen the case management of the virus in the country. Dr. Edgar Takyi Akonor, a senior Lecturer with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Cape Coast has predicted Ghana could be battling with another ordeal of sigma if proper education on the virus is not given.
He expressed concern on the projection of the virus on some local media platforms in an attempt to describe the disease. According to him the exaggerated form of its description heightens the fear of people and believes that largely accounts to the intense stigma associated with it.
Ghana’s Covid-19 cases currently stand at 5,735 with 1,754 recoveries and 29 deaths. Savannah, Bono East and Ahafo regions remain Coronavirus-free.
Source: Aba Aikins Appah/ATL FM NEWS
