Bismark Baisie Nkum
The National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) has called on the public health emergency teams at various districts in the country to liaise more with assembly members for their community engagement as part of the Covid-19 response efforts.
The President of NALAG, Bismark Baisie Nkum, said this would make them receive the needed cooperation from the community members, who are expected to adhere to the established protocols on Covid-19.
Sharing key findings during NALAG’s engagement with some local authorities, Mr. Nkum said they identified that district health directorates enter communities without the involvement of the assembly members, saying “this creates difficulty for cooperation from the community members in adhering to the established protocols.”
He said “some communities treat suspected cases as confirmed cases, basically as a result of lack of understanding of the procedure, and this often creates stigmatization, where even suspected cases even return negative.”
The NALAG President stated that the manner in which recovery cases are released into the community also creates unnecessary suspicion and stigma for the individuals involved, adding that “this goes to the extent of affecting their economic life.”
Besides, he asserted that NALAG wanted the Ghana Health Service (GHS) staff to “work hand in hand with the assembly members when they want to engage communities to educate or trace a suspected case.”
According to Mr. Nkum, NALAG’s position on the pandemic is that education is the medication for a disease without a cure. He, therefore, called on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), as well as the Information Service Department, to intensify education and sensitization in the communities.
He said the religious organizations should equally use their various platforms to educate their members on the pandemic and urge them to adhere to enhanced personal hygiene and social distancing protocols.
“The call on various stakeholders getting communities mobilized and engaging every citizen and their organizations are the preconditions of preventing and controlling the spread of the virus,” he added.
The NALAG boss noted that the easing of partial restrictions by President Akufo-Addo puts enormous responsibility on the public to ensure the virus does not spread further.
“Stage one of the easing of restriction which now allows a limited number of persons to worship at religious centres with limited number and opening of our schools to final year students, now puts enormous responsibility on local authorities to ensure total compliance,” he said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu