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The Ministry of Information, the Ghana Health Service and Partners have provided a one-day training workshop and education for the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs under the auspices of his Royal Majesty Nana Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese V, the President of Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs.

In his opening remarks, Nana Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese V on behalf of his chiefs thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the measures put in place by his government to slow down the spread of COVID 19 which has yielded positive results to the entire nation and Brong Ahafo region in particular.

Nana Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese V emphasized how detrimental the COVID 19 is which has separated nations and also affected human relations, adding that the good protocols put in place by Ghana Health Service and the government and the compliance of the citizens has contributed to the success story.

Nana Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese  V further showed optimism by saying that “we shall surmount the COVID 19 pandemic sooner”.

Nana Pimampim Yaw Kagbrese V drew the attention to the enormous effort and contribution by the chiefs to the fight against COVID 19. He then praised his fellow chiefs on their sterling performance.

Nana further admonished continuity of the effort in the fight and also cautioned the Ghana Health Service not to relent on their efforts; stressing that Ghanaians should never take chances and fight till the end so as to make the initial efforts not in vain.

“The fight is not a government fight but an all-inclusive fight including the chieftaincy institutions”, President of Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs postulated.

The Municipal Chief Executive (M.C.E) for Sunyani, Hon. Owusu Banahene Justina who represented the Regional Minister also made the point clear that the disease is dangerous, bringing to light the joint forces of the government, local government, chiefs and all institutions in the fight against the disease.

Hon. Owusu Banahene Justina however thanked the central government for resources provided for the COVID 19 fight. She said the local government has made these resources available at lorry stations, schools, market places, churches, parks among others.

She made it known to the house that the assemblies have engaged in a regional specific disinfection and clean up exercise and therefore eulogized the media for their sterling role in the fight against COVID 19.

Hon. Justina again appreciated the effort of Catholic Bishop of Bono region, Mr. Matthew Kwesi Gyamfi for providing 40 structures to be used as isolation centers and also eulogized Nana Sunyani for doling out an amount of 10,000 cedi to help push the agenda to fight the COVID 19 disease.

The Municipal Chief Executive further mentioned the fumigation of schools, markets, churches and other places with the help of Zoomlion.

The Chief Director for the Ministry of Information, Madam Mamle Andrews who led the Ministry team reveals that the current strategy by government is low level Community Engagement and Risk Communication.

She acknowledged the fact that the chiefs can lead the community engagement as they are the kingpins of their land and their directives sinks deep down because they are trusted and revered by their citizens.

Miss Mamle Andrews emphasized that “there is no cure so we have to continue to adhere to the safety protocols and not relent on our efforts”.

The workshop which was led by the Director of Health Promotion Division and Leader of National Risk Communication and Social Mobilization Committee for Ghana's COVID-19 Response Team Dr. Da Costa Aboagye focus on education on COVID 19, Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), stigma, wellness clinics and the preventive protocols.

Dr. Aboagye says “the current COVID-19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviors against people of certain ethnic backgrounds as well as people infected and their families.

He feared that the impact will essentially drive people to hide the illness to avoid discrimination, prevent people from seeking health care immediately, discourage them from adopting healthy behaviours and can cause depression in people who have recovered from the COVID 19”.

Dr. Da Costa said, the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and Government on the other hand have promised to initiate “wellness clinics” as one of the key methods to early detection of NCDs with the aim of institutionalizing “prevention is better than cure” approach to support curative healthcare delivery.

In an exclusive interview with myjoyonline.com, Dr. Da Costa said, “this programme will provide a platform for every Ghanaian to at least check their health status once a year. This data will actually be linked to the National Health Insurance data and it will help us in reducing the Non-Communicable Diseases before the next epidemic.” This will also help to reduce the high disease burden cost of NHIS”.

Dr. Da Costa, opine that “Majority of the deaths that we have recorded in this country came from co-morbidities, underlying conditions; and most of these underlying conditions tend to be the Non-Communicable Diseases such as Hypertension, Stroke, Diabetes, Cancers and the others. So, certainly, there is the need to step up education on these Non-Communicable Diseases.

The leader for Risk Communication and Social Mobilization for COVID-19, however, requested the media to help frontline health workers and Health Educators to educate Ghanaians on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyles. 

“The media should help educate and encourage Ghanaians to do regular exercise; to eat our local foods as well as eat more fruits and vegetables have enough rest and avoid stress” he urged.

Dr. Da Costa stated that, “the issue is that behaviour change is a process and it is true that we are introducing something new to our culture, for instance wearing of masks, and social distancing and so sometimes unless we continuously talk about them before it can sink well and effect changes in Ghanaians”.

In his concluding remarks Dr. Da costa, urged the chiefs and opinion leaders to do their part through all forms of engagement with various groups in their catchment areas with education on COVID-19 while also providing leadership to help fight this pandemic through community base education.

He again urged the chiefs to intervene in situation where tenants are being ejected because they contracted and recovered from COVID 19; thus they must help fight stigma and empower survivors of COVID- 19.