COVID-19: Education Minister leads anti-stigma campaign
Ghana’s Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh widely known as NAPO following his recent recovery from the COVID-19 respiratory disease has started an anti-stigma campaign with some colleagues at the Ministry.
The media spokesperson for the Member of Parliament, Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng in an earlier statement announced that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has gone into self-isolation at the University of Ghana Medical Center (UGMC) in Accra after being suspected to have tested positive for the virus.
According to Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng, NAPO who on Tuesday, June 16 underwent various tests including the COVID-19 test after a short illness tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
But fortunately, he was treated and discharged from the hospital after his positive test.
The spokesperson in another statement disclosed that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has been discharged from the UGMC with a positive rapid antibody test result but will be further monitored,”.
The Education Minister recounting his experience from the centre in an interview with Kwame Sefa Kayi on PeaceFM’s Kokrokoo show monitored by Georgeweb.org said the Grace of God saw him through the days of his recovery process. He added that at some point he taught he was going to pass away.
Speaking in the interview he disclosed that almost all staff in his inner circle tested positive for the virus after a mass testing was conducted at the ministry when he tested positive for the virus.
“After my second result came out as positive, testing was conducted on all staff at the Ministry, so assuming that I have 50 staff, 45 were positive for the virus. Most of them are asymptomatic so they are isolating at home,” he told host Sefa Kayi.
NAPO following his successful recovery with other people which some of them are from his outfit believed to have also recovered from the disease has launched an anti-stigma campaign.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh taking to Facebook shared photos that sighted them in white, red, and blue customized Lacoste with the writing “I have been attacked by COVID-1, have survived and fully recovered.”
He alongside the stunning photoshoot, penned a heartfelt message urging a strong resistance against stigmatization.
“As a society, we must do more to avoid stigmatizing those who contract and recover from the dreadful Covid-19 virus. Those who survive it have a story to tell, and it is not a pretty one. We must not make it worse for them by stigmatizing and then ostracizing them”. he urged
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He encouraged that “Together, let us fight not only the disease, but the negative social stereotypes around it. I am proud of my team at the Ministry of Education. Some of us contracted COVID-19. Thank God we beat it. Today, we say No to Stigmatisation”.
Source: Georgeweb.org
