With the advancement of science and technology over the years, one would have thought that there was nothing in the world that science could not immediately predict and solve.
However, the coronavirus pandemic took the world by surprise and perhaps, gave us some food for thought.
For the advanced countries like China, the USA and the UK, where millions of people have contracted the virus and thousands dying on daily basis, science has been used to control the spread of the virus and even to educate the people on how to protect themselves against the virus and even how they can support one another at the community level.
But in a continent like Africa where culture, traditional beliefs and superstition are part of the people, the fight against Covid-19 was bound to be met with misconceptions and strange beliefs.
Fewer people have been infected or died from the coronavirus in Africa but people who recovered from the virus have had to face stigma in their communities.
Here in Ghana, stigmatization against persons who have recovered from Covid-19 according to duty bearers has become a threat to the fight against the spread of the virus and related issues.
The Upper East Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Pontius Pilate Baba Abaabey, says the process of identifying or diagnosing suspected Covid-19 patients creates stigma.
“People who were suspected of having Covid-19 virus, the way the State went in an unbalanced, with sirens and even that military and the Rambo-style approach of the contact tracing started the stigmatization”, he stated.
The Upper East Region is one region in Ghana where culture and tradition play a key role in shaping the mindsets of the people.
Due to the closely-knitted nature of family ties and the community – centered way of life, news spreads faster in our communities and as you would expect, so does fake news which often leads to stigmatization also spread.
34-year-old Madam Matilda Agamu was the first person to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Upper East Region. Madam Agamu says she suffered stigma, the first day she visited the Upper East Regional hospital with her husband. At the time, she was pregnant.
“I was in the hospital ward when the news spread that I was having Covid-19. It is like those who knew me were at the hospital when the doctor broke the news that I had Covid-19. The news spread out, before my test results came”, she narrated.
Even her 8 – year old daughter was not spared from stigma. While Mrs Agamu was in the isolation center pending the results of her Covid-19 test, people back in her community discriminated against her daughter.
“I was at the isolation center for 1-month and 3-days. So, I called home to check on my daughter and it was at that point she told me that she went to buy dry-okro and surrounding community members stoned her”.
Mrs Agamu who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, in tears, added that, “those who were stoning my daughter described her as a ‘Coronavirus Child’.
Stigma against health workers
Even healthcare workers are not spared when it comes to stigma. A Disease Control Officer at the Upper East Regional Health Directorate and member of the Covid-19 Rapid Response Team, Mr Eric Dakura was deeply involved in the fight to curb the spread of the virus in the region.
When duty called on the 28th of March this year, Mr Dakura and some other frontline health workers moved in to take samples at the Upper East regional hospital for tests.
Unfortunately, he later found out he was infected, and on 11th April, 2020 he went into isolation.
Mr Dakura recovered from the virus but says he did not suffer extreme stigmatization alone, but that, his wife was not spared the ordeal.
“My wife was actually stigmatized. Even the house that we stay, no one was interacting with her. Anytime she goes to the market, people were pointing fingers at her, saying, this is the wife of the guy who had the disease. While I was in insolation, some staff stigmatized against me and it was so embarrassing. Since then, till now, I hardly visit people because the reaction out there is not welcoming”.
The story of Mrs Ruth Atariva, a Covid-19 contact tracer is not different. Her role involves paying regular visits to persons suspected to have been infected with the virus. She identifies and traces people who have come into contact with suspected Covid-19 patients for the appropriate healthcare steps to be taken.
Because of the nature of her job, Mrs Atarivi says she was stigmatized by the owner of a shop she usually buys foodstuff from.
“The shop owner told me that she learnt I am part of the team that pick Covid-19 cases in the region, so I am not supposed to visit her shop. She told me to always allow my husband to come and buy the things, if not, I will drive her clients away”, she lamented.
But even more ironic is the fact that some healthcare workers whose duty involves giving the right information to help stop the spread of Covid-19, unfortunately stigmatize against their colleagues who are in the front line.
“Some of our colleagues tagged us with the name, “Contact Tracers” even though they know us by our names. When we go out to the field, some of our colleagues will just call and tell us not to return back to the work-side”, another Covid-19 contact tracer with the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate, Mr Asampana Paul Asaah bemoaned.
Whereas health workers suffer stigma from their colleagues and a section of the public, family members, due to some misconceptions about the virus, tend to stigmatize against healthcare workers who risk their lives daily, to reduce the spread of the virus.
Alhaji Yahuza Seidu, another contact tracer who says his wife stigmatized against him, believes she did that, probably, to protect herself and the family.
“In the early days, there were quarrels between me and my wife because anytime I returns from the field, from a distance, I could hear her shouting at me and demanding that I remove my clothing and hang them on the dry-line. There are some days I have to spend the nights in the sitting room so she could feel safe”.
Covid-19 and fake news
A Senior Medical Officer and Head of the Newborn Care Unit of the Upper East Regional Hospital, Dr Gillian Bogee who was airlifted to the Covid-19 treatment center at Korle-Bu in Accra has recovered from the virus.
Even though Dr Bogee has not suffered stigma, she believes the fight against Covid-19 would be a mirage if the public continues to stigmatize against recovering and recovered Covid-19 patients.
“Stigma undermines the efforts to test and treat diseases and this might increase the risk of infection among suspected persons and others around them”, she expressed worry.
In the wake of Covid-19, fake news did not only created anxiety among the populace, but it is said to be a factor in the spark of the virus. Social media users and some traditional media users have aggravated the spread of the virus through unsubstantiated content-driven.
The Senior Medical Officer and Head of the Newborn Care Unit of the Upper East Regional Hospital, who admonishes the public to “desists from reading or listening to fake news on the virus” believes fake news on the virus possess a challenge to government’s efforts and the efforts health workers are making to reduce the spread of the virus.
Stigma and the fundamental human rights
The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has that duty to educate Ghanaians on very important national issues. That includes educating the public on the coronavirus and its related issues like stigmatization.
The Upper East Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr Pontius Pilate Baba Apaabey says stigmatization is an infringement of people’s fundamental human rights and persons who are stigmatized against, can seek legal redress, provided they can give evidence to prove their case.
“The issue of stigmatization has direct link with our fundamental human rights, which is a constitutional issue in Chapter 5. So, stigmatization takes away some of the human rights values that human beings need to possessed and live with. People who feel their human rights have been abused and they have the evidence, they should be courageous to initiate a legal action”, Mr Apaabey admonishes.
As Ghana continues in her fight against Covid-19, it behooves on everyone to be responsible citizens by following the precautionary measures, devoid of stigmatizing Covid-19 patients and persons who recover from the virus.
Source:A1Radioonline.com|Joshua Asaah|101.1Mhz
