Last week, Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda officiated an event where the Ministry of Health discharged four people that recovered from Coronavirus at Entebbe Grade B Hospital.
The public was eager to know the identities of the individuals that braved the journey in defeating the virus but Health Minister Dr Aceng revealed that it would not be possible for the population to know their identities as they did not sign the consent forms.
“We couldn’t force them to sign and it is within their rights to do so,” Aceng said.
The refusal to sign consent forms is largely attributed to their fear of being stigmatised by the community, so they would prefer anonymity at least at the moment.
To fight this kind of stigma from the community, Dr Atek Kagirita, the COVID-19 Incident Manager in the Ministry of Health said that before the recovered person is given the green light to go home, a psychosocial team from the Ministry interacts with the community and family members of the recovered person first.
“Do not discriminate discharged COVID-19 patients or suspects. We carry out extra tests to be sure. By the time we discharge a patient, they are entirely clean”. Dr Kagirita said.
This is aimed at preparing the family and community to receive the person without fear that they can be infected with the disease and helping make the person feel at home and live as normally as before.