Environmental Health Officers. File photo
The Unposted Environmental Health Officers and Assistants Association of Ghana is shocked at the alarming incident rate of cholera outbreak in the country, claiming many lives since October 24, 2024.
In a statement, the association extended its condolences to affected families, calling on the government to adopt stringent measures to curtail the spread of the disease.
Blaming years of neglect in the environmental health sector, the association said the poor sanitation conditions in the country contributes to the surge in communicable and preventable diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and malaria.
They criticised the government’s failure to recruit trained environmental health officers, leaving thousands of graduates unemployed for over four years.
“For over four and a half years, graduates from the three schools of hygiene in Ghana have been left unemployed, despite our extensive training and readiness to contribute to the nation’s environmental health,” the statement emphasised.
According to a report on channelnews.com, the group attributed the crisis to government’s neglect and lack of political will to strengthen the environmental health units into a full-fledged authority.
Without proper investment in sanitation and waste management, they warned, Ghana would continue to experience recurring disease outbreaks.
They acknowledged the recent proposal by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to upgrade the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate into an authority but urged swift action rather than mere political rhetoric.
“This shouldn’t be one of those political talks,” they cautioned, calling for the immediate employment of unposted environmental health officers to reinforce the overstretched workforce in the field.
Reaffirming their commitment to improving environmental health standards, the association called for swift intervention from the government to improve sanitation systems to avert public health emergencies.
VA/AE
Meanwhile, watch this captivating story of the Ghana’s 100-year-old World War II veteran whose name is widely known in the Buckingham Palace, below: