Ministry of Health trains community in regenerative health

Amasaman (G/A), Jan. 22, GNA - Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Health, on Monday advocated the need to put health at the centre of economic growth to create wealth through health. He said a healthy, strong, intelligent and active human capital was more productive, created more wealth and contributed to an increase in Gross National Product (GDP).

"The health status of any population determines its level of productivity," Major Quashigah said when he opened a five-day training workshop on Regenerative Health and Nutrition" for Ga West communities. The Ministry of Health has developed a new policy that emphasises on health promotion and prevention with the aim of improving the health status of Ghanaians through promoting healthy lifestyles with emphasis on nutrition.

It is also to improve health and nutritional status in children; ensure their physical and mental development and lay the basis for a more productive nation in future. The types of food that children eat in their first five years contribute to their level of Intelligence Quota in the future.

He noted that a hygienic, sanitized environment and healthy lifestyles produced good health adding that everything in life, including the human body, was regulated by natural laws of cause and effect.

"Our bodies have in-built mechanisms for self-preservation; growth and development; involving a cycle of appropriation of food; assimilation and elimination of waste. A lifestyle that breaks these laws is a lifestyle that brings disease and ill health. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for its consequences," Major Quashigah said. The Health Minister noted: "We are sick because of what we are eating. How we are living and the way we are destroying our environment."

He said the reintroduction of sanitary inspectors and health educators would bring back discipline, change the eating habits and cultivate the habit of continuous exercise to keep fit. Major Quashigah explained that the Health Ministry was working closely with the Ministry of Education to ensure that students were healthy and health literate.

"We need to work with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to improve access to water and ensure safe housing. We need to work with the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Fisheries to produce good quality and nutritious food for the population." Mr Prince Immanuel, representative of the African Hebrew Development Agency, commended the Government and the Ministry of Health for ensuring a health policy that promoted health and prevention of diseases.

He noted that the generations of today were afflicted with diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, which could be prevented because they are caused by change in lifestyles. He called for adoption of healthy lifestyle, including positive eating habits, continuous exercise, drinking of more water and eating of fruits and vegetables.