COVID-19 is not a FRIEND to learn to live with but an ENEMY to eradicate – Dr Frank Amoakohene

1. I have followed series of narratives including one from the Health Minister that seek to suggest that Covid19 has come to stay and as such we must learn to live with it. This narrative points only to a lost battle on containment and bargain with an enymy that requires eradication. It also further reenforces the non-corporative attitude of the public on the preventive measures of which disbelief is chief of all.

2. I have in the past few weeks reached out to various Communities and households within Mampong Constituency Educating and giving out some assorted items in ensuring that the preventive measures are observed.

3. Throughout this period I have come to the realization that the single most important point the Government missed in getting the maximum corporation of the people in sticking to the preventive measures is the mistrust and disbelief at the community Level.

4. That is to say that many people at the community level as of now do not believe there is anything like Covid19 in Ghana which is like ten steps back for us in this collective fight against the virus.

5. Government spokes persons usually make a statement of getting those who do not believe to hug a Covid19 patient but instead of looking at disbelief as a mischief, I suggest we rethink of it at the real challenge to overcome since without the believe of the people it would be close to impossible in getting them to cooperate and observe the safety protocols required to contain the infection.

6. The argument of disbelief starts with the sequence of events on how Covid19 appeared only after the announcement of some $100 m. And this is almost a universal argument raised by the doubting Thomases.

7. Inconsistencies in figures and lack of detailed information has equally accounted for similar disbeliefs and probably the so called “Information management” has not been helpful.

8. There is also an attempt by government to paint an “all is well” picture to the general public and this is partly responsible for the problem. It is not surprising that many of our community folks do not believe there is anything at stake and go about their activities like nothing is happening. Because after all, Covid19 is not deadly or any serious.
   We are at a point in this fight where the public must be made aware that we are at war, for them to appreciate the magnitude of the problem and take cover.

9. Public Education: we’re not doing much on public education, the NCCE is lost in action obviously because they have not received enough support to embark on aggressive education. They need to be resourced and made to work on this aggressively.

10. We can also employ the services of health students who are currently home to help in the education. Let’s work through their mother associations to identify them, get them some protective equipments and deploy them for their immediate communities

11. Covid19 is not a friend to live with, as the health minister suggested at one of the Press briefings, but an enymy to eradicate. We must therefore be more aggressive with our preventive measures. This is an enymy not to bargain with but to eradicate.

Frank Amoakohene
NDC Parliamentary Candidate, Mampong Constituency

Former President for the National Health Students Association of Ghana