Adopt healthy lifestyles - Odoom

Accra, Sept. 7 GNA - The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Abraham Dwumo Odoom, on Friday reiterated the Ministry's call on Ghanaians to exercise, eat more fruits and vegetables to help regenerate their bodies.

With alarming statistics of Ghana's life expectancy rate at 57, he placed emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention as part of a scaling up programme of the implementation of the new health policy on regenerative health and nutrition.

In a speech read on his behalf at a health talk organised by Ghana Health Service (GHS) for traders and hawkers at the Tema Station Lorry Park in Accra on regenerative health and nutrition, he explained that the new policy developed by the Ministry of Health placed emphasis on health promotion and prevention with the aim of improving the health status of Ghanaians through the promotion of healthy lifestyles with emphasis on nutrition.

It is also to improve the health and nutritional status in children, ensure their physical and mental development to lay the basis for a more productive nation in future. Mr Dwumo Odoom observed that if Ghanaians would adopt this new way of living in a clean environment, drinking a lot of clean water and exercising regularly they could prevent most diseases and live longer. The role of government, he said, was to empower the populace with the requisite information and health-enhancing services to enable them to make healthy choices.

The scaling-up programme would involve the use of the Ghana Health Service structures to transmit regenerative health and nutrition messages throughout the country.

Mr. Dwomo Odoom noted that the selection of the venue was timely and strategic and would also serve as a test ground for the programme. This, he noted, was largely because the area was populated by many petty traders and hawkers whose abode was outside the station and therefore had the potential of spreading the education messages across the length and breadth of the country.

Madam Margaret Walker of the GHS said Ghanaians were afflicted with diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes due to the unhealthy lifestyles that had been adopted over the years. She said excessive intake of carbohydrates and fatty foods, among other things, should give way for the adoption of healthy lifestyles, including positive eating habits, continuous exercise, drinking of more water and eating of fruits and vegetables.

Madam Walker said with most diseases like hypertension, symptoms might start to tell on the patient when the disease was far advanced and urged the traders to check their blood pressure regularly and live a life of moderation to ensure that all was well.

On malaria, Madam Walker debunked the notion that the new malaria drug combination of Artesunate Amodiaquin rather killed people. She said before one was given the drug there was the need to know the patient's weight and it should not be taken on an empty stomach. She observed that there was the need for patients to strictly adhere to the instructions that went with drugs to avoid complications. 07 Sept. 07