Ashanti informal economy workers deepen their knowledge of COVID-19

Dr Joshua Arthur, Public Health Specialist, KATH

Dr Joshua Arthur, public health specialist at Komfo Anokye University Hospital (KATH), has warned Ghanaians to dismiss the mistaken impression about COVID-19 vaccines.

The conspiracy theories put forward, he said, lacked foundation as scientific revelations attested to the effectiveness of vaccines in minimizing threats posed by the novel coronavirus.

Currently, the government of Ghana has approved various vaccines to be administered to citizens, including AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, Modena, and Sputnik V.

“We have heard so many negative stories and myths about vaccines, however studies and field evidence have proven otherwise,” Dr Arthur told attendees at a two-day awareness forum on COVID-19, in Kumasi.

The program, organized by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in partnership with the Danish Trade Union Development Agency, targeted workers in the informal economy in the Ashanti region.

It aimed to promote compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols, especially in the workplace, in order to improve the protection and safety of people.

The Ghana Health Service pandemic portal says that as of Tuesday, September 14, 2021, the country had recorded more than 1,090 deaths from COVID-19, with around 124,000 confirmed cases.

Dr Arthur cited ignorance and superstition as the main factor contributing to the reluctance of most people to get vaccinated.

Therefore, he commended the TUC leadership for setting up the program for people in the informal economy, who made up the bulk of the country’s workforce.

Mr. Joshua Ansah, Deputy Secretary General of the TUC, assured that the management will continue to defend the welfare and interests of workers in the formal and informal sectors.

He said the awareness forum was designed to draw the attention of workers to the devastating nature of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed many lives around the world.

Mr. Eric Amoadu-Boateng, head of the organization department of the TUC, said that a healthy economy depends on healthy people.

Therefore, workers in the informal sector economy had an obligation to strictly follow all COVID-19 safety protocols for their well-being in order to improve productivity.