PREPARATION IS PEACE: COVID-19 Pandemic Exposes Mistrust in Health Care Delivery and Politics, What a Bombshell!

PREPARATION IS PEACE

COVID-19 Pandemic Exposes Mistrust in Health Care Delivery and Politics, What a Bombshell!

Fig. I. COVID-19 Is A Promiscuous Disease, So Be Careful.

Though physical preparation is very important in our lives, like in the prevention of COVID-19 Pandemic (Niriwa, 2020), we need to also always prepare psychologically or emotionally (Hammond, 2010). This is because, psychosocial problems (Hammond, 2010; Goold, 2002) and perceptions (Goold, 2002) are open secretes that create mistrust in health care delivery or medicine. Mistrust is becoming a serious global trend that is not only found in our health care system, but in almost every aspects of human relationship (Oxman & Paulsen, 2019; Rodrigues et al., 2017). To have quality health care delivery, our perception(s) that create(s) “psychological” or “emotional” problems (Rand et al., 2017; Hammond, 2010; Goold, 2002) is/are very important and must be considered.

But what then is mistrust? Mistrust is the act of losing trust or confidence in someone/something, an institution/organization/company, profession/job, government and so on (Dictionary.com, 2020). Public health which is the backbone of health and politics are like twins (Bekker, 2018), that is why in most cases, when there is mistrust in any health institution, political rulers are also accused. A very painful example is when a 19-year old male is allegedly reported to have died of COVID-19 at Walewale, but the family rejected his lab result, suspecting a plot by managers of the hospital and government (Annang, 2020).

This mistrust can also be seen amongst politicians themselves who are the ones mostly involved in policies formulations and their supporters. Example; “Science scepticism and political dogma have contaminated the debate about COVID-19” in Brazil (Kalache, 2020). The same author has revealed how the implementation of certain emergency public health policies in the US, which were supposed to be of national interest, were rather foiled with partisan interest. Ghana is not an exception, as the two major political parties are victims as seen in (Awuku, 2020; Nana., 2020) and (Zoure S. a., 2020; Darko, 2020; Amofa, 2020). Despite these, the major opposition is seen on many occasions, openly praising the government (GNA, 2020; Zoure S. b., 2020). The NDC let by Former President John Mahama have also openly pledged their support to the government in the fight against COVID-19 Pandemic spread, and have acted by forming a Covid-19 technical team (Yakubu, 2020).

This is something that politicians around the globe can learn from, though we play politics; we know our limit(s). However, the politics in Public Health and its policies is a known secrete (Bekker et al., 2018; Greer et al., 2017; Bambra et al., 2007), but should we continue practicing something that is not helping our citizens? What was particular very beautiful and worthy of emulation is when the two major political parties were seen together peacefully sharing relief items to persons in need during the partial lockdown (FM., 2020). This is not possible in some nations! But, in Ghana, we ask why not? Let us unite as ONE Human race to Contain this Global Obstacle of PEACE.

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 does not respect Party Membership, religion, tribe/race, body structure, location/place, profession/job, educational level or your social status; as I posted, 22^nd March 2020, on WhatsApp. However, manipulation by human being can let it follow any of these trends. The only way that we can permanently contain this virus, is when we put all our differences aside. Comments like, COVID-19 is a “genocide” that is targeted at some particular tribe/race (Court, 2020), especially without any concrete evidence, create perceptions and mistrust. Whilst we condemn such comments, there is also a saying that: “There is no smoke without fire!” (van Dongen & van Twist, 2018). Instead of discriminating against each other as revealed by some black Americans referring to COVID-19 as a “Racial Justice Issue” (Evelyn, 2020), let us rather see the virus as our problem; but not our colleague humans. If we continue to discriminate or stigmatize against ourselves, instead of the virus, it will also continue to give us oppressor’s rule for long.

Whether this is true or not, it is a reality that can affect our efforts to prevent it from spreading. Let us rather turn all our discrimination mentalities to this virus, but NOT the human. Let us avoid all forms of negative perceptions that create mistrust and racial or tribal discrimination. Mistrust is a serious challenge in quality healthcare delivery (Smith, 2017; Choy & Ismail, 2017). Some of our neighbors are already suffering from job losses as a result of this pandemic (Kawohl & Nordt, 2020). But, remember that you are only safe when others are safe; that is one of the reasons why our COVID-19 Front-line Workers are sacrificing themselves to save us, at the expense of their own lives (Steinbuch, 2020).

This is a serious global problem that has been exposed again by COVID-19, but research findings by Guadagnolo et al., (2009) and Musa et al., (2009) have found out that mistrust needs to poor satisfaction of health care delivery. Having trust in your health care system is very important in your preventive/healing process (Choy & Ismail, 2017; Smith, 2017). As we remember all workers today, also remember that your health is really your wealth (Carlson, 2016; Pett, 2018) and without trust your health is questionable. This reality is confirmed by the fact that, as we celebrate workers day today, some people around the globe have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, as revealed by (Kawohl & Nordt, 2020; Nicola et al., 2020).

COVID-19 is like a drunkard, you cannot trust it! As at 19^th January 2020, its cases which was initially 44 (08.01.2020) was reduced to only 2 cases, with the hope that it could be contained in Wuhan (Chen & Yu, 2020). Within just eleven days, it suddenly started inflicting emotional pains in residents of Wuhan and the whole world; and has therefore, been declared by WHO on 30^th Jan 2020 as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (Chen & Yu, 2020). Within just a blink of our eyes, it is now ruling everywhere! This behavior has revealed to us the kind of promiscuous disease that it is (Fig. I).

However, there is no need to panic! This revelation will rather help us to create some counter-behaviors to neutralize its behavior, since we know how it behaves. To protect yourself and others from this worldwide cancer, you need to create your own barriers between you and SARS-CoV-2. If you are the kind of person who cannot see without touching; try to temporary avoid touching things for now, for your own safety as well as that of others; except it is necessary. You will not see and want to touch, get into crowded places, or step on infectious droplets, if you stay safely at home. You need to self-assess yourself for behaviors that can put you at risk of being infected, and devised your own ways of dealing with them; in addition to some experts and the WHO advise (WHO., 2020). If we all maintain social distance and stay at home, wash our hands regularly with soap under clean running water, sanitize our hands with 70% alcohol-based hand sanitizers regularly or before and after touching any object, SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19, will have no other option than to run for its own safety. Thank you for Reading!

Recommendations:

1.      We need to constantly keep reminding ourselves that COVID-19 is a reality and still keep on practicing the preventive measures that have been suggested by experts.

2.      We must flee any form of discrimination or stigma that can affect our COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention.

3.     Comments that COVID-19 is a genocide targeting some particular race/tribe, create negative perception and mistrust. They must be stopped, except there are evidence!

4.      It is true that there is politics in everything, but matters of life and death must not be politicized.

5.      Death from COVID-19 will be reduced if other institutions, organizations or companies are able to identify people with underlined health conditions and help them with flexible work schedules.

6.      If you are staying with a needy person who has no option than to go out onto the street before he/she can eat, help him/her stay at home if you can afford that.

References

Amofa, F. (2020). Mahama rejected our allowance request for the front-line nurses and doctors during the Ebola Outbreak – Former GMA Boss. COVID-19 Updates, News 360, Politics., Retrieved from https://ghananewspunch.com/john-mahama-rejected-our-request-for-allowance-for-the-nurses-and-doctors-during-the-ebola-outbreak-former-gma-boss/amp/ on 11.04.2020 at 12:05PM.

Annang, E. (2020). Family of dead Covid-19 patient in Walewale reject test results; 'fights' gov't. Local News, Retrieved from https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/family-of-dead-covid-19-patient-in-walewale-reject-test-results-fights-govt/wbjzk1r on 12.04.2020 at 10:17AM.

Awuku, W. P. (2020). When the EC becomes a tool for Executive Manipulation. . News, Retrieved on 29.04.2020 at 1:45AM from https://starrfm.com.gh/2020/04/when-the-ec-becomes-a-tool-for-executive-manipulation/.

Bekker, M. P.-M. (2018). Public health and politics: how political sciece can help us move forward. Eur J Public Health, 28(3) 1-2. Doi: 10.1093/eurpub/cky194.

Carlson, K. (. (2016). Your Health is Your Wealth. . Living the Big Stuff., Retrieved at 3:27PM on 25.12.18 from http://kristinecarlson.com/your-health-is-your-wealth/.

Chen, X. &. (2020). First two months of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) epidemic in China: real-time surveillance and evaluation with a second derivative model. Global Health Research and Policy, 5:7. Doi: 10.1186/s41256-020-00137-4.

Choy, H. H. (2017 ). Indicators for Medical Mistrust in Healthcare - A Review and Standpoint from Southeast Asia. . Malays J Med Sci., 24(6): 5-20. Doi: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.6.2.

Court, A. (2020, April 19). Top NIH coronavirus immunologist under investigation for tweets suggesting the pandemic is a 'genocide' and claiming doctors are 'letting black patients die'. Retrieved from Daily Mail: Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8233119/Top-coronavirus-researcher-tweeted-doctors-let-blacks-die-COVID-19.html on 23.04.2020 at 4:14PM.

Darko, D. A. (2020). NPP Using COVID-19 Interventions To Launch Akufo-Addo's 2020 Re-election - Mahama’s Aide. . Politics. , Retrieved on 25.04.2020 at 2:15PM from https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/politics/politics/202004/406468.php.

Dictionary.com. (2020). Mistrust. Retrieved from Dictionary.com: Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mistrust on 1st May 2020 at 3:19PM.

FM., P. (2020, April 9). NPP, NDC Officials Unite To Feed Thousands Of ‘Kayayei’ In Accra. Retrieved from Peacefmonline: Retrieved from https://m.peacefmonline.com/pages/politics/politics/202004/405158.php on 10.04.2020 at 6:37PM.

GNA, (. N. (2020). NDC praises Government’s response to coronavirus fight. . Health., Retrieved from https://newsghana.com.gh/ndc-praises-governments-response-to-coronavirus-fight/ on 25.04.2020 at 1:45PM .

Goold, S. D. (2002). Trust, Distrust and Trustworthiness Lessons from the Field. J Gen Intern Med., 17(1): 79-81. Doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.11132.x.

Guadagnolo, B. A. (2009). Medical Mistrust and Less Satisfaction With Health Care Among Native Americans Presenting for Cancer Treatment. J Health Care Poor Underserved., 20(1): 210-226. Doi: 10.1353/hpu.0.0108.

Hammond, W. P. (2010). Psychosocial Correlates of Medical Mistrust Among African American Men. Am J Community Psychol., 45(1-2): 87-106. Doi: 10.1007/s10464-009-9280-6.

Kalache, A. (2020). Coronavirus makes inequality a public health issue. . World Economic Forum., Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-makes-inequality-a-public-health-issue/ on 26.04.2029 at 8:10PM.

Kawohl, W. &. (2020). COVID-19, unemployment, and suicide. Lancet Psychiatry., 7(5): 389-390. Doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30141-3.

Musa, D. S. (2009). Trust in the Health Care System and the Use of Preventive Health Services by Older Black and White Adults. Am J Public Health, 99(7): 1293-1299. Doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.123927.

Nana. (2020). I'm surprised EC defied court order. . News, Politics. , Retrieved from n 27.04.2020 at 9:45AM https://mobile.ghanaguardian.com/im-surprised-ec-defied-court-order-clara-beeri o.

Nicola, M. A.-J. (2020). The Socio-Economic Implications of the Coronavirus and COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review. Int J Surg., 4-20. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018.

Niriwa, B. P. (2020). Preparation is Peace: Some Identified Mistakes in Our Physical Preparation to Prevent COVID19 Pandemic. Featured, Retrieved from https://mynewsghana.net/preparation-isipeace-some-identified-mistakes-our-physical-preparation-to-prevent-covid19-pandemic on 07.04.2020 at 10:54PM and revisited on 01.05.2020 at 2:51PM for updates.

Oxman, A. D. (2019). Who can you trust? A review of free online sources of "trustworthy" information about treatment effects for patients and the public. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak., 19: 35. Doi: 10.1186/s12911-019-0772-5.

Pett, W. (2018). Your Health Is Your True Wealth! . Mind, body, spirit., Retrieved at 3:39PM on 25.12.18 from https://www.wendiepett.com/your-health-is-your-true-wealth/.

Rand, K. V.-V. (2017). "It is not the diet; it is the mental part we need help with." A multilevel analysis of psychological, emotional, and social well-being in obesity. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being., 12(1):1306421. Doi: 10.1080/17482631.2017.1306421.

Rodrigues, L. M. (2017). The Price of Distrust, Anxious Attachment, Jealousy, and Partner Abuse. Partner Abuse, 6(3): 298-319. Doi: 10.1891/1946.6560.6.3.298.

Smith, C. P. (2017. ). First, do no harm: institutional betrayal and trust in health care organizations. J Multidiscip Healthc., 10: 133-144. Doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S125885.

Steinbuch, Y. (2020). Italian nurse with coronavirus kills herself over fear of infecting others. . News. , Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2020/03/25/italian-nurse-with-coronavirus-kills-herself-amid-fears-of-infecting-others/ on 04.04.2020 at 3:37PM.

van Dongen, H. E. (2018). A Red Eye and a Brown Back: There's No Smoke Without a Fire! Eur J Intern Med., 53.e2-e3. Doi: 10.1016/j.ejim.2017.12.014.

WHO. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID19) advice for the public. . Diseases, Novel Coronavirus 2019, Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public on 20.03.2020 at 2:45AM.

Yakubu, M. (2020). NDC sets up Covid-19 technical team, committed to assisting gov't fight pandemic – Mahama. Prime News., Retrieved on 25.04.2020 at 2:04PM from https://www.primenewsghana.com/general-news/ndc-sets-up-covid-19-technical-team-committed-to-assisting-gov-t-fight-pandemic-mahama.html. .

Zoure, S. a. (2020). Covid-19: It’s not ‘by force’ for Akufo-Addo to consult GMA before decisions. News., Retrieved from https://www.mynewsgh.com/covid-19-its-not-by-force-for-akufo-addo-to-consult-gma-before-decisions-deputy-minister/ on 23.04.2020 at 11:10A.

Zoure, S. b. (2020). Zoure, S. (2020). Akufo-Addo Is Thinking Outside The Box, Becoming One Of The Best In Recent History- NDC's Dela Coffie. News, Politics., Retrieved from https://www.mynewsgh.com/akufo-addo-is-thinking-outside-the-box-becoming-one-of-the-best-in-recent-history-ndcs-dela-coffie/ on 06.04.2020 at 11:17AM.