Ellis Owusu-Dabo - Department of Community Health, SMS, KNUST, Kumasi 

Ellis Owusu-Dabo has lived in Ghana for most of his life. He attended secondary school at St. John’s School in the Southwestern part of Ghana. He proceeded to do his advanced level certificate at St. Augustine’s College in Cape Coast and then went to the University of Science and Technology (Now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST), where he graduated with a BSc in Human Biology. He then continued with his medical school training and graduated in 1995. After medical school, he completed his housejob at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi and did his district/rural training at the Methodist Hospital in Wenchi, Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. Subsequently, he began working with the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research in 2001 where he worked on a study investigating the genetic etiology of tuberculosis. He later moved to join the Department of Community Health of the KNUST in Kumasi as a lecturer. In October 2006, he moved to England to begin a PhD program at the University of Nottingham in the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, where he is living today.

Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) among Health Workers

In 2003 and 2004, Dr. Owusu-Dabo worked on a project to test the acceptability of VCT among health workers in Ghana as well as the HIV status of the health workers. 963 health workers were surveyed about their feelings on VCT and 603 agreed to be tested. Only 10 percent of workers surveyed said that they would recommend VCT to clients. The main reasons that health workers cited for not recommending this service were lack of confidentiality and fear of trauma associated with a positive diagnosis as well as fear of being stigmatized. After looking at the survey results, Ellis and colleagues talked with Ghana’s Health Director and other policymakers about this situation. Since these meetings, the leadership in Ghana has taken a role in promoting VCT among health workers. In addition, the number of outlets for VCT as well as total number of health centers has increased in Ghana. Dr. Owusu-Dabo attended the National HIV/AIDS Conference in Ghana where he presented this information to people working around the country and the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto where he disseminated this information to people working in other countries.

HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination

In collaboration with the Gates Institute, Kumasi’s School of Medicine’s Department of Community Health and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as the School of Public Health, worked on a training and capacity building program in Ghana. The focus of this five year program (which ends in 2008) is capacity building among RH providers in the country. Because more health workers were needed in Ghana, the directors of district health programs (approximately 230) came together to plan a recruitment and capacity building strategy. At this meeting, the directors were given information on all RH programs in Ghana. This was done to ensure that health directors in all the districts were aware of all the available RH programs and services being run by the Department of Community Health of the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Directors then brought this information back to their districts and informed all health workers and providers about them. To follow-up, another meeting was scheduled; this time with the regional directors of health. These directors learned of the available RH services and then brought this information back to their employees as well. As a result of these meetings and the information distributed, interest in RH programs and services grew among health care workers around the country. A permanent committee made up of members of the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health was formed. This committee has a contract to fund a specific number of mid-level health workers each year to be trained in RH. Approximately 28 people have been trained since the start of this project. 

Contact Information Dr. Ellis Owusu Dabo Department of Community Health, School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Corresponding Address: Division of Epidemiology and Public Health University of Nottingham, School of Community Health SciencesTel: 880-2-882-9457 Clinical Sciences Building, City Hospital, Hucknall Road, Nottingham. NG5 1PB Tel: +441158231912, +447984823475 E-mail: owusudabo@yahoo.com

In the fall of 2005, Dr. Owusu-Dabo began working with the director of USAID, Ghana, to develop a media program on HIV/AIDS stigma in Ghana. He conducted a literature review on HIV/AIDS stigma which was to be used to inform policymakers about HIV stigma. Although the literature review was informative, it was very challenging at times. Ellis had difficulty accessing much of the data he needed. To overcome this obstacle, he contacted the School of Public Health in Accra who helped him obtain the necessary data. USAID, Ghana AIDS Commission, National AIDS Commission, Ghana sustainable change project and other organizations were all receptive to this project and were also instrumental in helping Dr. Owusu-Dabo acquire data for the project.

Ellis drafted an outline and worked with a communication strategist at USAID to create a guide for addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in Ghana. This document went on to become the official document to address HIV stigma in Ghana and the Ghana AIDS Commission has adopted the theme of “Addressing the Stigma of HIV/AIDS.” Other institutions have followed and the Director of Health Committee has acknowledged this project as important to Ghana.

Strengthening Reproductive Health (RH) Programs in Ghana