We're a country of just 33 million people but we have almost 100 different types of bitters - Sam George

Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has raised concerns about the lifestyle choices of Ghanaian youth that could lead to long-term health issues.

During a live studio discussion on Joy News regarding the closure of the Renal Unit Out Patients’ Department and the increase in kidney-related cases in Ghana, Sam George criticized the youth for engaging in behaviours that may contribute to health problems.

“We're a country with just 33 million people. Yet, we have over almost 100 different types of bitters. All kinds of concoctions in the name of aphrodisiacs. I mean, it's like we're a sex-crazy generation that needs to do anything and everything just to prove a point.

“We're drinking the wrong things, eating the wrong things, and smoking our lungs into oblivion. I mean, we need to check our life choices as a country. It's a problem. It's a pandemic,” he said.

He particularly highlighted the smoking of shisha among young people, which he suggested might be responsible for the rise in kidney-related cases in the youth.

“A majority of the young people [are] reporting with these things. It's just horrible, irresponsible life choices. They are smoking like locomotive engines. They've dumped cigarettes and have jumped on that killer called shisha, and it is killing.

“You drive around Accra, around East Lagon, and you see young people putting off steam like locomotive engines all in the name of fashion,” he claimed.

Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

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