GNA Joins Vigorous Campaign Against Open Defecation

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) has expressed its commitment towards supporting the fight against open defecation, using it nationwide platform to educate and inform the populace to engender behavioural change.

It would use its spread across the nation and reach across the media platforms to help the people to accept to do the right things.

Mrs Beatrice Asamani Savage, News Editor of the GNA, who represented the Agency at the launching of the Media Coalition against Open Defecation (M-CODe), said it was sad that Ghana continued to hear stories of open defecation even at these present times.

The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources had earlier sought partnership with GNA in the fight against open defecation.

Available statistics indicate that about one out of five Ghanaians defecate in the open, translating into an estimated 5.7 million of the population engaging in open defecation.

A UNICEF study has also revealed that one gram of human faeces may contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs, all these having negative consequences for health, productivity and socio-economic development.

The practice of open defecation is a direct invitation to preventable diseases like cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid fever, which continue to kill countless number of people and swelling the national budget on health.

M-Code, made up of media houses including the GNA, Ghanaian Times, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Multimedia Group, Daily Graphic, CitiFm, and others, has therefore been launched to help inform and educate the people to move away from the bad practice.

Mrs Savage said: 'we at the Ghana News Agency as part of our mandate do pledge to tell the positive stories of Ghana so we are very happy to join this endeavour to transform these negative stories into positive ones.

'On behalf of the General Manager I pledge our support for this fight with our wide media platforms across the country to turn the negative stories into a positive one', she said.

Mrs Linda Asante-Agyei, Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), said media houses which stood out in the fight against open defecation as it did in an anti-galamsey drive would be recognized during the upcoming GJA awards ceremony in October and in subsequent ones.

'This will be a top up to the prizes for best in Environmental Reporting and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sponsored by World Vision', she added.

She said open defecation was hurting tourism promotion which was a significant revenue spinner with the potential to attract more dollar inflows.

'Open defecation reflects the level of environmental bankruptcy in parts of the country and the degree of indictment on our sense of responsibility as a nation.

We must not continue to spend huge sums of money to brand Ghana only to undermine same with open defecation.'

Mrs Asante-Agyei said it was time to wage a fearless war, spearheaded by the media against that 'shameful practice'.

The GJA invited the district assemblies, chiefs and community leaders to declare zero tolerance for open defecation.