We deserve 7th dirtiest country tag - Ghanaians

Ghanaians say they are not surprised that the country was ranked the 7th dirtiest country in the world.

A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ranked the country the 7th dirtiest in the world.

Speaking to Atinka News, some Ghanaians said the report was a true reflection of the situation in the country since filth had virtually engulfed almost all the regional capitals, particularly Accra.

They, therefore, called on the government to implement policies that will prevent people from dumping refuse on the streets.

Atinka news visited some of the refuse dump sites at Agbogbloshie and the scenes were not too good.

According to the WHO and UNICEF report, performance on sanitation coverage in Ghana has worsened in the past year, leading to 7,500 children dying annually from diarrhoea, which is linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation or poor hygiene.

Studies also show that only one in eight Ghanaians regularly wash their hands, a situation that aggravates outbreaks such as cholera.

Ghana, which currently has a sanitation coverage of 15 percent, is ranked after South Sudan which has a seven per cent coverage, Niger, 11 percent; Chad, Madagascar and Togo, 12 percent each and Sierra Leone which has a 13 percent access to household toilets, the measurement used for the ranking.