The Christian Council of Ghana is worried about the increasing interference by some religious leaders with the work of medical doctors in Hospitals.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XkPBDEOuhsiKswqyFJEZvQy6EXwyAzXv”]The General Secretary of the Council, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong mentioned that there were instances where some pastors instructed patients to ignore prescriptions by medical doctors and stick to their spiritual water for healing.
Rev Opuni-Frimpong said when the incident of Ebola virus was reported in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, churches in those countries attributed the virus to a curse from God and other spiritual things.
He said when faith-based organizations interfere with the work of professional doctors; it puts the lives of their followers in danger..
“All religious bodies must accept that Ebola is a medical challenge, which needs medical response, urging them to intensify the education drive in Churches and Mosques to supplement the efforts of health practitioners in health delivery,” he added.
Rev Opuni-Frimpong said religious bodies play an effective role in influencing the citizenry and as such, they much take the opportunity to educate their members rather than misinforming them.
He expressed concern about how religious leaders were neglected from an inter-ministerial committee to figure out ways to secure the country’s borders against persons who may enter the country with the virus.
“This is surprising because the country cannot handle a national crisis like the Ebola virus without involving the faith-based leaders, since they are an effective network in pushing the national health agenda of the country.”
He said the Council has instituted educational programmes such as mass media and social mobilization, engaging social and political leaders and heal the sick project, all in an attempt to educate the public on the Ebola virus.
Rev Opuni-Frimpong noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) has come out with five pillars of Ebola preparedness methods and the Council is rolling out a campaign for faith-based organization in six regions and 130 selected schools across the country to be trained by health practitioners on best practices to protect themselves in case there is any Ebola outbreak.
Source: GNA