By: Akpabli Daniel
Yao/Akatsi/VR
The District Chief
Executive of the Akatsi South District in the Volta Region, Leo Nelson Adzidoga
has called on citizens in the district capital, Akatsi, to desist from all forms
of stigmatization in the District especially towards residents in Tatorme.
His call came weeks after
residents in Akatsi Tatorme, a suburb in the district capital, have suffered various
forms of stigmatization within the district due to a recorded Covid-19 positive
case in the area.
He explained that, about
some three weeks ago, one person was tested positive and as part of the
measures, he was taken to the testing centre at the University of health and
Allied Sciences (UHAS) Ho, where he was treated and discharged, meanwhile all the blood samples on the seven persons sent
for examination when the contact tracing started, proved negative.
Speaking to the Finder,
Mr. Adzidoga confirmed that the situation of the confirmed positive case is
generating a lot of heat in the district as he agreed that, lives are been affected
negatively due to the stigma on the people of Tatorme and urge citizens as a
matter of urgency to stop the stigmatization
The confusion
He said, the confusion
came at the time where the information about the recorded positive case was
widely circulated in three phases in the social media.
“Phase one came earlier
before the official communication to my outfit and without mentioning my
office. The second one followed mentioning that it was issued from my office
and the last one came from the health directorate”. He explained.
He further narrated that “before
we were informed about this case, some of the social media platforms broke the
news. The Director was surprised when he called to inform me about the
situation and I told him I had the information. I then saw the need to get the victim
out of the suburb before we continue with the contact tracing so I quickly had
a meeting with the chief of the area after which the director for Ghana health
service also met them and finally, they allowed the contact tracing to go on. Basically,
we wouldn’t have allowed the specific area to be mentioned but it was very
unfortunate this happened”.
Contact tracing
Mr. Adzidoga was of the
view that enough consultation was done by all stakeholders before any action
was taken in this whole case.
“the health directorate
organized meeting for the chiefs, elders and opinion leaders, the assembly
members and the unit committee in the area on the issue but earlier on, I met
the chief of the area and we talked about this”
He said, it was after
this consultation that they allowed the contact tracing to go on even though it
may not be exhaustive.
He noted that what they
have done so far is bringing results in terms of allowing the health workers to
go on and take samples to ascertain whether there are traces of this virus
after the patient was taken away.
The stigma
The DCE admitted the
issue of the stigma around the people of Tatorme but blamed social media users
for been the major cause.
He said when his
attention was drawn to the issue of stigmatization all over the place, he saw
the need to tackle it head-on thereby charging the National Commission for Civic
Education-NCCE as well as himself going on radio for education and
sensitization campaign.
“we learnt this guy
voluntarily went in for testing. They took his sample and sent to UHAS. The
sample result was that he has the virus. Now he was taken to the treatment
centre and the information to me is that he has been cured and discharged so to
say that he was taken to the site and later on tested negative, which means he
was not even treated is not true because, my understanding is that he was
treated, cured and discharged”
Way forward
According Mr. Adzidoga,
enforcement and education particularly on the various protocols that was
announced by the president, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo, to stop the spread of this
deadly virus is the way forward.
“Even though there are partial
lifting on some, ban on public gathering as announced by the president must be
adhered to, and Social distancing must be strictly complied with as well as
putting on a nose mask. We are to ensure by enforcing these directives so that
people do not spread this virus” he stressed
He further called on all
and sundry not to panic but stop pointing accusing figure and collaborate with
authorities so that calm can retain in the district as he noted that, the harm
has already been caused but steps to recover is key.
“let’s listen, forgive
one another and move on. We should not hold on to one particular issue and want
to make sure we run somebody down. That is not the way to go because mistakes
are part of human affair”
He is therefore pleading
with the citizens to collaborate with the appropriate agencies, the team and
committees that are to ensure that Akatsi South contain and kick out the novel corona virus disease.
Assurance
Mr. Adzidoga assured the
citizens in the district of his preparedness to ensure the safety of all in
this trying time.
He said his outfit will
support the Assembly and Unit Committee members as well as the Chiefs and
elders in his jurisdiction as the Akatsi district continue to instill in its
citizens to observe all the safety protocols related to the containment of the
disease even though some people are recalcitrant.
We shall continue to do
our best to ensure that education goes down with the people to understand that
this disease is real in Ghana and for that matter the region so as to take the
necessary precautionary measures to ensure that Akatsi is virus free.
ALSO PUBLISHED IN THE FINDER NEWSPAPER
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