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16.11.2014 Feature Article

Tackle the inequalities that exist in communities through strategically measures via Parliament - Part 1

Tackle the inequalities that exist in communities through strategically measures via Parliament - Part 1
16.11.2014 LISTEN

The inequalities of any country cannot be only tackled by a ruling Government accept via a long strategic long-term plan of action, which is formally agreed by all political parties via Parliament.

Our social improvement has not significantly changed that much. The good news is there is room for more improvement in all areas right now. Reflecting back to the 1960, one could remember that things were much better then as compared to what we are currently experiencing. Our ladies were going to Ball room dancing, an active YMCA, The Boys brigade, etc etc. On the shopping front, there was UTC chains of shops under the leadership of my late grandfather, R.A Fenuku as the first African Director and owner of Victory Cottage, Ofankor, Kingways stores, Glamour, GNTC chains of shops and many more. Those days Ghana's Accra High Street was very vibrant and a desirable model. The early 1970's also saw a new wave of purposeful built polyclinic and met expectations in communities. Local school were fielding students ready for our job market. Ghana was thriving along a steady centile its developmental progress not significant but manageable.

Then came a word called “Greed” and sadly some Government Ministers forgot their main objectives for being in power. This therefore set back our developmental progress.
Nevertheless, on a positive note one can say there has been some advancement in medical and scientific knowledge as a result we currently have a highly trained professional workforce. However, it appears there is not a massive investment in the healthcare system. Most of our health centres in the villages are not fit for purpose. They seem to be poorly furnished and not meeting expectations in addressing the Health of our nation. Yet again the Agave Development Association U.K and many Ghanaian organisations in the U.K, US, Canada, Germany and many more have all contributed to improvements various health centre throughout the country.

The irony of the matter is for some Ghana seems to be fantastic place to be live and work but I don't think so. These feeling sometimes mask the widening gap between health outcomes and economic growth in some of our most deprived communities. It is a known fact that a baby born into a home with parents in good jobs and well educated and financially prosperous equates to a better chance of longer living as compared to a baby born to parents who are not. This is the challenge all political parties.

If we know the impact of what the above statements have on children across their lifespan then this would have alerted our Politicians/Parliament to act proactively in improving the health outcomes of young lives.

The social determinants are the collective set of conditions in which people are born, grow up, live and work. They include housing, education, financial security, and the built environment as well as the health system. This tells us that we need a collective Government to address these keys strategic areas early and in addition monitor, review and evaluate operations from top level down.
To date there has been lack of significant investment in tackling the social determinants of health and as a result we are experiencing levels of unfairness in health inequalities.
For the purpose of this article I will be referring to Britain's achievement in addressing its own problems. Once upon a time Britain was once faced with poverty during the Elizabethan England that was in 16th century with mounting economic problems as the poor became poorer, and a growing army of vagabonds and beggars roamed the streets and countryside.
Its population rose dramatically which also added to economic pressure the country was facing. As a result people were unable to support themselves and standard of living dropped and the problem of vagrancy worsened and impacted on the whole country.

Does these stories sound familiar?

The U.K Parliament accepted the problem and worked tirelessly as one entity to turn things around giving themselves short and long term plans of action and following it through different Governments.
They passed a series of strict poor Laws and others in their efforts to turn things around.
Britain was once ruled Ghana so still have strong ties with them.
Presently, Ghana is facing the same problems Britain did face sometime back and was able to comprehensively address them effectively.

My question is that why is Ghana trying to reinvent the wheel on social developments & improvement when we could easily tap into the knowledge of the British health care and Educational system and many more. Why are we so head strong in seeking necessary help to resolve ours? Would it not be easier learning from hard lessons from Britain or other countries rather than reinvent the wheel on policies that will work /or won't work? The smarter countries like China and Japan are always learning and emulating from developed countries in an attempt to look great.

The bold step is not going backwards but rather forward because we say we are independent and in charge. The market intelligence from these countries dates back from the 16th century however that is the sort of intelligence we desperately in today's Ghana.

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