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All hands
on deck on sanitation – Aliu
Accra, April 30, Ghanadot/GNA- Ghana's Sanitation Campaign
Strategy was on Wednesday launched in Accra with a call on
public and private sector, development partners, traditional
rulers and civil society to reawaken their concerns towards
addressing sanitation challenges in their various
communities.
Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who made the call noted
that sanitary conditions in the country were nothing to
write home about, pointing out that the situation was
deteriorating each day with its attendant public health
consequences.
"Data available in our health facilities indicate that over
60 per cent of all morbidity and mortality cases are water
and sanitation related, especially those affecting children
and other vulnerable people in our society," he added.
Alhaji Ahmed Awudu Yirimea, Deputy Minister off Local
Government, Rural Development and Environment launched the
strategy on behalf of the Vice President.
The United Nations has declared 2008 as International Year
for Sanitation.
The primary objective of the campaign strategy is to have
one national coordinating body, one national plan and one
transparent monitoring and evaluation framework and the need
to repackage sanitation as an essential component of poverty
reduction and national development.
The programme dubbed; "Sanitation for All" is under the
theme: Re-packaging sanitation for accelerated national
development," was organized by Coalition of Non Governmental
Organisations in Water and Sanitation in collaboration with
WaterAid Ghana.
Sanitation problems in the country's cities range from
indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorized places,
including drainages.
Ghana is said to have ranked 48th position on a good
Sanitation Chart for 51 countries on sanitation situation in
Africa, according to UNICEF sources.
Alhaji Mahama noted that clean water and sanitation were not
only about hygiene and disease but dignity.
"Many examples show that self-esteem begins with having a
safe and proper toilet facility.”
The Vice President announced the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development and Environment (MLGRE),
which has the mandate for sanitation has prioritized
sanitation as a key area of action in the short, medium to
long term plans and programmes.
"This is as a result of government's recognition that
improving environmental sanitation was critical to the
achievement of the socio-economic development of the
nation," he added.
He said the Ministry has therefore set the pace by
initiating number of programmes aimed at reversing the
downward trend in the sanitation situation in the country.
These, he said included, revising the National Environmental
Sanitation Policy, upgrading the Environmental Health and
Sanitation Unit at the Ministry to a directorate, provide
logistics such as transport, increase staff strength to
reach out to all communities with education and enforcement
of laws and regulations.
He therefore called on all to put hands on deck in funding
sanitation services, which he said was capital intensive,
adding that government alone could not tackle the problem.
Mr Stephen Ntow, Country Representative, WaterAid, Ghana
said the event was to draw the attention to the plight of
about 65 per cent of Ghanaians who did not have access to
basic sanitation and needed to mange waste in all forms.
He said 2.6 billion people representing 40 per cent of
world's population did not have access to sanitary
facilities that provided with safety and dignity adding
that, by 2004, only 65 per cent of Ghana's population had
access to sanitation.
Quoting United Nations Sources, Mr Ntow mentioned that half
of hospital beds at any time were occupied by persons
suffering from water and sanitation related diseases
worldwide and Ghana was not an exception.
"Studies show that simply washing the hands at critical
moments can reduce diarrhoea diseases by 40 per cent. The
avoidance of health related care cost and lost of man hours
also come as extra economic benefits," he pointed out.
The Country Representative for WaterAid therefore appealed
to government, presidential aspirants and other persons
seeking votes to occupy offices to priorities and invest
reasonably in sanitation.
He said WaterAid would continue to campaign locally and
internationally to change policies and practices to ensure
that water and sanitation's vital role in reducing poverty
was recognized.
Mr. Demedeme Naa, a Director, Environmental Health and
Sanitation Division (EHSD), MLGRDE said the sanitation
issues posed the biggest challenges to government, and that
by December last year the Accra Metropolitan Assembly alone
owed waste contractors 10 million Ghana cedis.
Mr Kweku Quansah, a Director of EHSD, said the public should
see sanitation as key determinant in improving their
standard of living.
GNA
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