Parliament urged to pass National Sanitation Authority Bill into law

The Accra Metro Public Health Department (MPHD) has called on Parliament to pass the National Sanitation Authority Bill into law.

According to the MPHD the passage of the bill would contribute significantly to the work of public health officers in Ghana by providing an effective mechanism to address the huge structural gap.

Mr Michael Affordofe, Head of the Environmental Health Department of the Accra School of Hygiene, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency to mark the World Environmental Health Day in Accra.

The Day was on the theme: “Strengthening Environmental Health Systems for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” It was sponsored by Guinness Ghana, Zoomlion, and Witties Ghana.

Mr Affordofe said the passage of such a law was long overdue and urged government and Parliament to expedite the processes for the enactment of the bill.

He also touched on the lack of Environmental Health Directorate of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), its impact on environmental services and the health officers to perform their functions as the law prescribed.

Mr Affordofe said since 2017 government started to reform the environmental health and management structure by moving the directorate from MLGRD to the new Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR).

“This needs much to desire since the staff of the assemblies operate under the directives of the Office of the Local Government Services and not the MSWR, which is creating a huge gap,” he stated.

He said in view of the problems, there was the need to have a well-coordinated, motivated and competent public health workforce to lead in the promotion, prevention of diseases and prolonging the lives of the populace.

“Even though the MSWR I doing its best to perform some of the functions but the question is, who implements and monitors its policies, hence the need for Parliament to pass the bill to address this huge gap,” he noted.

The Health Expert said the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Environmental Health as the branch of public health concerned with assessing, correcting, controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the people.

Madam Esther Aidoo Dwamena, the Managing Director of Witties Ghana, who chaired the function, acknowledged the contribution of the government and its partners, especially Guinness Ghana, Witties, Zoomlion and the Power Expert Management for their support to the Assembly to enhance sanitation and environmental hygiene.

She said effective sustainable awareness campaigns and the promotion of hygiene were important and urged the people to prioritise environmental health in all the communities.

Madam Dwamena called for reactivation of the process towards establishing the Environmental Health Ministry to effectively address health of the communities.

Madam Florence Kuukyi, the Director of the MPHD of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, cited inadequate personnel and logistics as major constraints to effectively enforce and monitor sanitation issues in the communities.

She urged the people to be more proactive to the current unhealthy practices such as indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains.

GNA