Accra, June 11, GNA - Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Health on Monday called on the public to maintain high levels of cleanliness as a solution to the occurrence of preventable diseases which was a major determinant to building a solid foundation for national development.
He described the current filth that had engulfed the nation, particularly the cities, as a negative dent on the image of the country adding, "this is retarding growth in all areas of our lives, as much money is being spent on health care instead of development." Major Quashigah, who was addressing students of the Accra School of Hygiene at the launch of the fifth Annual Hygiene Week in Accra, said health institutional records had revealed that most of the top ten diseases being reported were environmental hygiene related, out of which malaria ranked very high, and claiming about 500 million dollars of the health budget, followed by diarrhoea and typhoid fever, with children being the most vulnerable.
The week-long programme which is on the theme: "Environmental Hygiene-The Solution to Preventable Diseases and the Solid Foundation for National Development," would have programmes such as clean-up and sensitization, a symposium, Hygiene education in selected schools in Accra and a thanksgiving service. The Minister said it had been estimated that Africa imported about 12 billion dollars worth of drugs annually, of which Ghana was no exception, saying a nation could no longer be measured in terms of its level of development with the number of health infrastructure it had, but rather its ability to deal with preventable disease to secure a healthy workforce.
Major Quashigah called for constant action and joint collaboration on the part of both government and all citizenry to deal with the current filth in every part of the country, while considering other forms of pollutions such as dangerous emissions from vehicles and excessive noise.
He said, "it is obvious that most people in the country now are just existing and not living and this is evident by the number of nice and fashionable houses spread out in our country, yet the owners refuse to even take care of the environment around them." Major Quashigah regretted that the country was spending a large amount of its fortune on curative health leading to the MOH's vision to develop a new paradigm emphasising preventive health and the avoidance of accidents.
He said if sustained, the policy would help eliminate most of the health challenges that currently confronted the nation. He also challenged the Health students to play active roles in educating the society on the dangers posed by poor environmental sanitation and pollution. "Your role as active advocates and ambassadors in your various communities would go a long way to create a positive impact on your generation to evoke changes in environmental cleanliness." Mr Clement Bawinia, President, Ghana Environmental Health Association, who launched the week, said it was important to marshal all available knowledge to develop strategic interventions to combat the current environmental problems. He however, expressed worry over the lack of political will and the lack of Environmental Health Officers, saying the Officers were currently confused as to which Ministry to work with. He said on paper the sanitation workers should belong to the Ministry of Local Government, yet they were not well recognized under the District Assemblies where they were expected to operate. Mr. Bawinia appealed to government to come out clearly with pragmatic policies and programmes that would correctly position the Environmental Health Officers at where their impact would be rightly felt.
He also called for the de-politicisation of environmental issues, saying they only compound existing problems rather than eliminating them, as they lead to non-sustainability of existing policies and programmes.
He further appealed to government to upgrade the salary structure of Environmental Health Workers and provide them with other motivation to enhance their performances. Mr Emmanuel Tetteh, President of the Student's Representative Council (SRC), said the School lacked training facilities to facilitate efficient teaching and learning and a vehicle to even convey students for their practical lessons.
"The school cannot even boast of a single computer and this is evident in the fact that the performance of the Environmental Health personnel seem to be missing on the field," he said. "It is very unfortunate that students of environmental health can only graduate at the diploma level due to non-availability of degree causes in the profession and even postgraduate levels," he said. Mr Tetteh indicated that due to unattractive conditions such as residential accommodations and poor salaries, many tutors had declined postings to the school to augment the teaching staff. He said comparative to other health practitioners, students felt reluctant to enrol in the school due to the negative perception formed by society, leaving large vacancies for new admissions each year. Mr. Tetteh appealed to the government to expand support to the school and called for public corporation with environmental health officers to ensure a clean environment for a healthy nation. 11 June 07
