Media urged to alert public on deteriorating sanitation situation

The media have been urged to draw the public's attention to the deteriorating sanitation situation in the country.

Miss Irene Mensah, a Senior Environmental Health Officer, who gave the warning, the situation has now reached a “crisis” point, that could likely result in higher death toll and reduction in productivity.

The Health Officer, who was addressing the media on the sanitation situation in the country in Koforidua on Wednesday,
said the role of journalists was crucial in drawing people's attention to sanitation issues and called for collective effort in tackling the problem.

Miss Mensah appealed to the media to emphasize the economic aspects of the predicament, such as lost days to illness and lost tourism opportunities owing to the hygiene-related ailments ranging from urological disorders to dracunculiasis.

Miss Mensah, who is also the facilitator of the National Photo Exhibition on Sanitation, said sanitation was a great untold story of modern Ghana.

She called on the media to intensify its coverage on sanitation issues, especially in poor communities.

Mr Francis Quist, Eastern Regional Environment Health Officer, said only four per cent of the region's population relied on water closet, modern means of expelling human waste, while a similar percentage of residents have no sanitary facilities, leading to higher burden on the incidence of enteric diseases.

He said the lack of basic sanitation had adverse impact on children's health as some of them were suffering from intestinal worm infections.

Mr Quist said efforts to prevent deaths occurring as a result of trachoma and diarrhoea would fail except if people used good drinking water.

Mrs Theodora Adomako Agyei, Extension Services Coordinator of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), said open defecation was one of the bad habits that must be targeted by the media so the offenders could be put to shame.

The Eastern Regional Health Promotion Officer, Mr Bechesani Demuyakor entreated Ghanaians to be mindful of habits that have long-term ecological implications for the country.