STORY BY |JOSEPH A. COFFIE|
Today, December 2, 2020, The Ministry of Health embark on the dissemination and training of trainers workshop on the workplace HIV and TB Policy and Technical guidelines for the health sector.
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| Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo (Programme Manager, National HIV Control Programme) |
This training was attended by many health workers including the Chief Director, Ministry of Health, The Director for Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, The Director for General Administration, Ministry of Health, The Programme Manager of NACP, The Representative from Ghana AIDS Commission, Representatives from the Ministry of Health Agencies, Staff of the Ministry of Health among others.
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| Dr. Emmanuel Ankrah Odame (Director, PPME/MOH) |
He said, “this revised
document has a vision to achieve “A supportive workplace environment for the
management of employee HIV, AIDS and TB conditions. Such a vision is apt and
relevant to the national agenda (SDG 3.3) of ending the epidemics of HIV and TB
by 2030. Ladies and Gentlemen, as we are all aware, HIV & TB are deemed as
co-infectious diseases and impacts negatively on the health and well-being of
the infected. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies TB
as the leading cause of death among people living with HIV, coupled with severe
pain, stigmatization and discomfort. The WHO further estimates that TB caused
11.3 million deaths 2017, with about 300,000 of these deaths occurring among
people living with HIV”.
Dr. Odame said, “the work
environment provides a platform for people co-existence and engagements whilst
performing work. As such, the risk of HIV & TB infections becomes
heightened at these environments. On the other hand, people who becomes
infected with HIV & TB also becomes prone to stigmatization and discrimination
by other colleagues. The health sector unlike other workplace settings have a
peculiar issue when it comes to dealing with HIV & TB at the workplace. As
the principal care givers for people infected with HIV & TB, we are highly
exposed to possible infections. As such, having in place this Workplace HIV
& TB Policy and Technical Guidelines is timely and critical to improving
the health and well-being at our work environments”.
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He noted that, it is also
heartening to note that the Ministry of Health has also revised the National
Health Policy (NHP, 2020) and has also developed a new Universal Health
Coverage Roadmap for Ghana (2020 – 2030) which are geared towards improving the
quality of life of the people of Ghana. These two over-arching health sector
documents has influenced the development of this Workplace HIV & TB Policy
and Technical Guidelines for better health outcomes in Ghana, including the
workplace.
He concluded by
expressing his profound gratitude to the Ghana AIDS Commission and the West
African Health Organization who provided technical and financial support to the
policy development process.
He urged everyone “to
fully participate in this dissemination and training program so as to achieve
our collective objectives”.
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| Mr. Hamidu Adakurugu (Director, General Administration, MoH) |
Mr. Hamidu Adakurugu, Director for General Administration, Ministry of Health and Head of WAHO desk on the other hand, deliver a short remark on behalf of the West African Health Organization.
He noted that, “Over the
years, WAHO has supported Ghana and the other West African countries both
financially and technically to develop and operationalize health related
programmes with a prime goal of improving the quality of life of the people
within the West African Sub-region.
Mr. Hamidu Adakurugu
stated that, WAHO is again pleased to have supported the operationalization of
this revised Workplace HIV & TB Policy and Technical Guidelines for the
Health Sector of Ghana.
He said, improving health and well-being at the workplace remains very important. As people continues to meet and engage at the work environment, there is the need to have in place mechanisms to mitigate any form of risk that would affect the quality of life at the work environment. It also worth noting that, improving health and well-being at the workplace also has direct effect on productivity and to a large extent national development. We are therefore particularly happy to have been able to support this just gesture and look forward to doing more to achieve a healthy human capital for national development.
He concluded, by
re-assuring all participants of WAHO’s commitment to supporting the improvement
of the health status of the population of the West African Sub-region.
And therefore, encourage
everyone to actively participate in this workshop so as to further transmit the
outcomes to other colleagues at their various workplaces for better health
outcomes for all.