By Jonathan Ugbal
A former senatorial aspirant in the northern senatorial district under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Ray Ugba Morphy says the stigma faced by patients and families of people suffering from infectious diseases needs to stop.
Ugba Morphy who describes himself as a mystic is also the Chairman, Editorial Board of the African Independent Television AIT. He disclosed this in a lengthy chat with CrossRiverWatch while celebrating his birthday with inmates of the infectious diseases hospital located along Moniaya road in Ogoja local government area.
His words “Some people think a simple handshake with a leprosy patient makes you have the disease or getting close to a leprosy patient alone gets you infected and this has led to the stigmatization of people suffering from this diseases and you can see that in the timid and shy nature of some of the people here who though we had earlier notified them of our coming, still find it difficult to do so and that is because people are not really cognizant of their presence”.
When asked what inspired him to do so he quickly replied “there is no inspiration really, it is just that reaching out to patients and families of people suffering from infectious diseases really makes a difference and most people dont know this place exists. This is not our first time here. I do this because Jesus said what you do for them you are doing it for me and though what we have here may not seem much but it will shock you to know some of these kids who may have been born here have never tasted ribena. I might have celebrated with friends which to them will be a normal day out but to them here it means a lot”.
While addressing a gathering of the inmates and their family members, he urged the family members and dependents to continue supporting their sick relatives.
The high point of the event was the sharing of the foodstuffs for the patients.
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