Muslim leaders call on GHS to intensify coronavirus vaccine education

Muslim leaders have called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to scale up education on the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Vaccine to clear public misconception and myths about the Vaccines.

This, they said, would help to achieve desirable outcomes in the nationwide vaccination exercise and enable the country to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

“It has also become necessary for the GHS to do serious advocacy on the urgent need to attach a great deal of importance to the vaccination for prevention and management of the inherent dangers of the pandemic.”

“The atmosphere is still cloudy and Ghanaians cannot see their way through,” the leaders said in a communiqué after the 2021 Annual National Ramadan Conference held in Sunyani on Friday.

The three-day conference on the theme “Strengthening the Governance Structures of our Mosques-a Foundation of the Development of Muslim Community,” was attended by Regional Chief Imams, Muslim scholars, and clerics.

It discussed the commencement of the 2021 Ramadan Fast.

The communiqué read by Alhaji Mohammed Ghazali Yakub, the Conference Secretary, advised Muslims to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols and government restrictions, and also prayed for divine intervention to prevent further spread of the disease.

On activities of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT), the communiqué condemned the practice, saying the act was against the norms of the natural course of mind and bodily sexual gratification.

“Islam, therefore, declares it as an abomination and should be summarily stamped out of the system,” it added.

The communiqué implored Muslim communities to attach importance to the 2021 Population and Housing Census and come out in their numbers to be counted.

This will greatly help the central and local governments in planning various health, education, housing, and other social services, it explained.

The communiqué called for collective and shared responsibility towards ensuring safety on the road and advised road users to comply with road safety regulations to reduce perennial road crashes and loss of lives in the country.

It appealed to Muslims to open up their children to meaningful technical and vocational education for the development of their psychomotor domain that would ultimately make them useful and acceptable members of the Ghanaian society.

“That notwithstanding equal attention should be given to the sciences and humanities,” it indicated and appeals to Muslim organisations and individuals to support regional offices of Islamic Education Units to facilitate the high ranking performance of Islamic schools in the Basic Education Examination Certificate (BECE) league table.