Dr. Vida Nyagre Yakong, Senior Lecturer, UDS and Member of the NDC’s COVID-19 Technical Team has appalled to Government to institute urgent measures to ensure the safety of Head Porters normally called “Kayayei” and “Paa O Pa” in other not to spread COVID-19 Pandemic upon return to their hometowns.
To her, these are the people that need special attention during this period of rapid spread of COVID-19 Pandemic.
In a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, Dr. Vida Nyagre Yakong stated that: “The GHA is concerned that without any medical screening whatsoever, these returning Kayayie and Paa o paa workers have the greatest potential of carrying the Coronavirus to their rural hometowns in the Northern and Upper Regions of Ghana.”
“In this regard, GHA calls on the government to ensure that all are properly screened in their originating locations and quarantined at their destination locations for the required 14 days and retested before they are cleared to join their helpless families and communities,” she said.
Read full statement below;
Head porters popularly known as “Kayayo/Kayayei” and “Paa O Pa” are mostly young girls and men who often migrate from deprived communities to the bigger cities to perform menial jobs for a living. The majority of them come from the northern part of Ghana. Whilst in the bigger cities, mostly Accra and Kumasi seeking for their so-call greener pastures they face a mirage of challenges ranging from lack of access to accommodation, water and sanitation to food. Most of these people live on the streets and are exposed to all manners of abuses and diseases. They are by all standards, a category of the vulnerable groups in the country that need special attention during this period of rapid spread of COVID-19.
His Excellency the President announced yesterday that Accra, Kumasi and other cities will be lockdown in a bid to contain the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic
Following this announcement, all lorry parks in Kumasi, Accra and Obuasi have seen many residents of these cities travelling to their home towns to avoid the effect of the Virus. The GHA notes that no screening is made of such travellers returning to their home towns. Of biggest concern to the GHA is the return of the many young head porters or Kayayie and young men engaged in Street Hawking and “Paa O Pa” and other menial jobs in these cities.
The GHA is concerned that without any medical screening whatsoever, these returning Kayayie and Paa o paa workers have the greatest potential of carrying the Coronavirus to their rural hometowns in the Northern and Upper Regions of Ghana.
In this regard, GHA calls on the government to ensure that all are properly screened in their originating locations and quarantined at their destination locations for the required 14 days and retested before they are cleared to join their helpless families and communities.
The GHA calls on the government to take the following measures
1. Screen all persons including the Kayayie and Pao o Pa young men
2. After a thorough medical screening the government must transport them in the State Transport and Metro Mass buses to their destinations.
3. The Municipal Assemblies must put up Emergency Medical Teams to receive the Returning persons from Accra and Kumasi etc.
4. The Regional NaDMO should prepare school classrooms to receive and keep the returnees
5. The NaDMO must supply them with Blankets, Sanitary Pads Cleaning and other life keeping materials
6. The District Medical Director should set up District Medical Team to monitor the health of the Returnees, especially the children.
7. The Social Welfare should begin to design Retention Programmes in Vocational and Technical Skills for training post coronavirus pandemic.
This is the time for the government to care for the poor and vulnerables. Let's treat them as human beings deserving of quality of life and not as mere objects of elections.
GHA remains optimistic that government would respond to the call to support these people and save innocent lives.
(Ghana Health Alert is a Civil Society Organization made up of Medical and Public Health Consultants, Senior Health Personnel, Academics and Researchers with the goal of advocating for improved health and educating Ghanaians on the importance of public health)
Sign
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Dr. Vida Nyagre Yakong (Senior Lecturer, UDS)
Executive Secretary, GHA & Member of the NDC’s COVID-19 TECHNICAL TEAM)
0506750315
Source: peacefmonline.com
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You formed an NDC COVID-19 response team. Get to work with your response, and stop asking government to do certain things. If that were the case why form a response team? You are able to mobilise and bus your supporters to political rallies, why can't you do the same now, rather than calling on government?
Popularity among which electorate? For some of you once your party is in power and you are getting some few cedis in your pocket you don't even think about the future of your country. This your government if you care to know is the worst ever in the history of our democracy.
Use11ess, empty and needlless statement. This is just for attention seeking by an unknown lecturer.
I knew from day one when we heard of this Ndc COVID-19 team, one thing that came into my mind was recognition. They think the President is getting more popularity among the electorates. Hence look at this empty measures the team proposed. Your incompetency would never washed be it in opposition or government
NDC COVIS-I9 Team, we need your contribution to the COVID 19 Fund.
The purpose of the lockdown is to prevent the disease from spreading from the epicenters to other places. So for this confused and evil-minded NDC team and their member her to ask that government should provide buses to send Kayayei to the North beats one's imagination and defies all logic except that it is ill-motivated. the evil deeds of the NDC are clear now. How can you be acting in direct contravention of Public Health Principles? And you tell us this woman is a member of your so-called Technical Team for COVID -19? What is her background and what does she know. Shane on NDC and their Mahama who formed this Team headed by a lawyer and not a public health person. Jokers!!!
Vida the lecturer only needs attention. Please give us a break.
Still the alternative is empty Just ***barred word*** talk of they can't even bring out anything to benefit the good people of Ghana
This is the EVIL intentions of NDC why they formed the virus infested group. Just to score political points on any issue in the fight against COVID-19. Why does NDC think that winnning power is the only thing they can do? They only want to win power to CREATE, LOOT & SHARE! NEVER VOTE FOR THIS EVIL PARTY, NDC!
I wish you will used the knoledge God has given you to help the kayeyei, because mojority of them came from your home.you spoke absolutely but you failed badly bcos of the written on your atire NDC.Madam this not the time.