Gov’t urged to integrate National Sanitation into Public Health Act

Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, Executive Secretary of the Department of Human Development of National Catholic Secretariat on Wednesday appealed to government to anchor the National Sanitation as part of the implementation of the Public Health Act (Act 851).

He said the implementation of the Act would help address the outbreak of diseases such as Ebola, Cholera and Malaria, in the country.

Mr Akologo made the appeal during the end of a pilot project review meeting on public health (Act 851) monitoring in Tamale.

He said the pilot project was being implemented by the Department of Human Development of the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), in partnership with the five Catholic Dioceses, comprising Tamale Archdiocese, Wa, Navrongo-Bolgatanga, Yendi and Damongo Dioceses in the three Northern Regions.

He said the project which was supported by STAR-Ghana, was to educate the public and create awareness on the public health (Act 851) and to also monitor the activities of the Act, passed in 2012 by Parliament.

He said the project has reached over seven million citizens within and beyond the three Northern regions in a form of information-sharing about Ghana’s Public Health Act by means of Media channels.

Mr Akologo said, “The National Constitution Review should see greater recognition of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the chapter on Fundamental Human Rights”.

He urged government to provide more resources to ensure the successful completion and implementation of the Constitution Review.

He said some 15 District Assemblies in the public health monitoring project in the three Northern regions are to implement the project.

Very Reverend Father Mathew Yitiereh, Vicar-General, said most of the deadly diseases were caused by the attitudes of people in the country, saying, “We contract and spread these deadly diseases as a result of the filth we create around the environment ourselves, which is not helpful to our health as a country”.