By Dennis Peprah
Fiapre, (B/R), July 01, GNA – A group of health advocates have called for integration of anti-trafficking training into the curricula of various health training institutions in the country.
That, they said, would equip and well empower health professionals to easily identify signs of trafficking, provide trauma-informed care, ethical treatment of victims, and report suspected cases as well.
They also called for specific protocols for healthcare professionals on identifying and reporting suspected trafficking cases and ensuring a coordinated response with law enforcement and non-governmental organisations.
The group, made up of nine members and level 400 students of the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Catholic University of Ghana (CUG), made the call at a seminar oganised by the department, and held at the university’s main campus at Fiapre, near Sunyani.
Led by the Reverend Sister Pia Panpogee, the Diocesan Coordinator for Missionary Childhood Association, Sisters of Mary Immaculate, Wa Diocese, the group is working on a project titled “human trafficking: a global health concern”, for their academic qualifications.
Other members include Beloved Adekoya, Alabi Oluwaseun Pamilerin, Pearl Ekwuruibe, Victor Oluwafolakunmi Kola-Ajobiewe, Lovelyn Maduka Kosisochuku, Evidence Ofotan, Perpetua Oloba Omolola and Grace Pufaa.
In a PowerPoint presentation at the seminar, which provided an opportunity for all the Level 400 students to highlight their project work, the group called for stronger legislation and enforcement mechanisms to deter trafficking and protect the vulnerable population too.
Rev Sr Panpogee, also a Nurse at the St Theresa Hospital, Nandom, Upper West Region expressed worry that the country lacked realistic data or statistics on human trafficking due to the sensitive nature of the menace.
That notwithstanding, she said some available figures showed 73 victims were rescued in the country from January 2023 to May 2024, according to the Kumasi Safe Child Advocacy, 2024 of the Conpath Talitha Kum Ghana Network.
The victims were trafficked from Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire, Central Africa and Liberia.
Rev Sr Panpogee said 59 victims had been sheltered, 72 successfully reintegrated back to their home countries with eight of them reintegrated with their families, indicating that 14 of therescued victims were children made up of 10 boys and four girls.
Globally, she said 2021 figures showed there were 49.6 million people living in modern slavery, 27.6 million in forced labour, 22 million in forced marriage, 17.3 million in private sector exploitation and 3.9 million state-imposed labour.
Rev Sr Oloba of the Sisters of St Louis, Nigeria, and a tutor at the St Louis College of Nursing Sciences, Kafanchan, Kaduna State, and one of the students, expressed worry that ancient slave trade had not only resurfaced, but well modernized.
She said because Africa was targeted, there was the need for governments and relevant institutions in the continent to build and strengthen collaboration to clamp down activities of the traffickers.
Rev Sr Oloba said intensified awareness creation was also necessary to fight the menace and called for funding support to enable the group to intensify the campaign against human trafficking.
GNA