The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has launched an anti-Coronavirus (COVID-19) stigma campaign code named “Don’t Stigmatise, Empathise” in the face of 3,132 recovered cases as at yesterday.
Kumasi has 73 cases of recovery and 18 cases of mortality as at Wednesday at the time of the launch of the campaign, expected to be media community based.
Mrs. Ruth Owusu Antwi, Clinical Psychologist at the Psychiatric Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in her key note address, noted that self-stigmatisation leads to low self-esteem and could lead to suicide, hence, the need to welcome, encourage and assist survivors to dispel fear and extreme stigmatisation.
She called for a concerted effort of representative stakeholders to intensify education towards anti-stigmatisation and counter inaccurate information by replacing them with factual ones.
Mrs. Antwi said the education should be productive towards behavioural change, and reminded the media of its role in promoting anti-stigma through the use of appropriate language and diction to send the right messages across.
The Clinical Psychologist lauded the efforts by Ghana to contain the Coronavirus.
She said the increase in confirmed cases since March 12, 2020, and the rate of recovery at less than 1%, is an indication that Africa and Ghana have made remarkable strides in the fight against the COVID-19.
According to her, the KMA anti-stigma campaign is the first of its kind at national efforts to contain the disease, and commended the KMA for the initiative while encouraging other Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to emulate the KMA to win the fight against COVID-19.
The Chief Executive Officer of the KMA, Osei Assibey Antwi, noted that stigmatisation was a negative phenomenon in every pandemic era, hence the need to confront stigmatisation with empathy, especially following the recovered cases.
The Mayor said the campaign, co-sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies, is a bid to redouble national efforts at improving awareness and contain the spread of the pandemic, as well as avoid community uprising against survivors.
The Mayor urged the public to adhere to all directives by the President and health officials, and advised residents to stay healthy by wearing the nose masks at all times, besides regular hand washing to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.
The KMA boss reiterated that the wearing of nose and face masks was compulsory for all members of the public, and said social distancing and restrictions on movement and public gatherings were in the best interest of the public.
Mrs. Omari Sasu, Metro Health Director, noted that the major challenge in the fight against the COVID-19 was sigmatisation, and lauded the campaign initiated by the KMA.
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