Stigma and discrimination tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors: Evidence from a nationwide population-based survey in Ghana

Eric Osei; Hubert Amu; Prince Kubi Appiah; Solomon Boamah Amponsah; Evans Danso; Samuel Oppong; Comfort Worna Lotse; Bright Emmanuel Owusu; Simon Azure Agongo; Eliasu Yakubu; Gideon Kye-Duodu

doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0000307

Stigma and discrimination tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors: Evidence from a nationwide population-based survey in Ghana

PLOS Glob Public Health. 2022 Jun 22;2(6):e0000307. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000307. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Eric Osei^{1

2}, Hubert Amu¹, Prince Kubi Appiah^{3

4}, Solomon Boamah Amponsah⁵, Evans Danso⁶, Samuel Oppong⁷, Comfort Worna Lotse⁸, Bright Emmanuel Owusu⁹, Simon Azure Agongo⁶, Eliasu Yakubu⁶, Gideon Kye-Duodu¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.
² Department of Public Health, Yonsei University of Graduate School, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.
⁴ Department of Medical Law and Bioethics, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Health Research and Development, Regional Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Eastern Region, Koforidua, Ghana.
⁶ Department of Community Health, College of Health, Yamfo, Bono East Region, Sunyani, Ghana.
⁷ Municipal Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Bono Region, Sunyani, Ghana.
⁸ Department of Nursing, School of Nurses and Midwifery, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
⁹ Department of Mathematics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
¹⁰ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.

Abstract

Historically, infectious diseases have generated fears among populations. Unhealthy handling of these fears result in the stigma and discrimination of infected patients. Globally, measures taken so far by governments to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, although helpful, have created fears in people. Consequently, there are reported Ghanaian media cases of stigmatisation against persons who were infected and recovered from COVID-19. However, these reports remain unsubstantiated. This study, therefore, sought to examine stigma and discriminatory tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors among the adult population in Ghana. This was a population-based cross-sectional study among 3,259 adults. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit study participants. Descriptive and inferential statistics comprising frequency, percentage, chi-square, and multivariable logistic regression were employed in analysing the data. Knowledge on COVID-19 was poor among 33.6% of the participants. Forty-three per cent had a good attitude towards COVID-19. Nearly half (45.9%) exhibited stigma and discriminatory tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors. Participants who had poor COVID-19 related knowledge (aOR = 1.91, 95%CI = 1.59-2.29, p<0.001) and poor attitude towards COVID-19 (aOR = 5.83, 95% CI = 4.85-6.98, p<0.001) were more likely to exhibit stigma and discriminatory tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors. Our study found relatively high proportions of poor knowledge and negative attitudes towards COVID-19. Stigma and discriminatory tendencies were consequently high. Our findings call for increased public education on COVID-19 by the Ghana Health Service and the Information Services Department, to increase the level of knowledge on the pandemic while reducing stigma and discrimination associated with it.

Copyright: © 2022 Osei et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Grants and funding

The study was partly funded by the Yamfo College of Health and Well-being, Sunyani, Ghana. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.