The Suhum Area of the Church of Pentecost has launched its version of the ‘Environmental Care Campaign’—a nationwide project initiated by the Chairman of the Church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye to help Ghana achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on Sanitation and Hygiene.
Members of the Church of Pentecost in the Suhum Area following the launch of the campaign are expected to organize frequent clean-up exercises and public education on sanitation and hygiene there.
Thousands of leaflets will also be distributed as part of the awareness creation throughout the next four years of the project implementation.
Suhum Municipality is facing challenges of open defecation, indiscriminate disposal of solid waste, poor hygiene practices and high rate of environmental indiscipline all resulting in an increase in the surge in diseases.
Statistics by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicate that a total of 23,571 malaria cases were recorded in 2018 in the Suhum Municipality as against 20,321 recorded in 2017. Also, 2,268 people were affected by diarrhoea in 2018 while 4636 recorded in 2017.
Intestinal worms infection rose from 2305 in 2017 to 3806 cases in 2018 while typhoid fever went up from 468 in 2017 to 1070 in 2018.
Suhum Municipal Health Director, Fredrick Kwame Ofosu said the directorate is worried about the high cases of poor sanitation and hygiene-related diseases being recorded in the municipality since they are preventable.
He, therefore, lauded the Church of Pentecost for the cleanliness campaign which he believes would help minimize the spread of diseases in the Municipality.
“Malaria is very predominant among the top 10 diseases that we recorded. Aside malaria, typhoid which is also related to sanitation is also among the cases being reported at the facilities that we have and these are all in connection with the environment so if the environment is clean, it will help reduce the burden that we have,” he said.
The Suhum Area Head of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Anthony Kwasi Ekuban said it is very important to keep the environment clean to provide good health to live longer.
According to him, it is very incumbent on Christians who are salt and light to, therefore, be agents of transformation to show the way in ensuring a clean and hygienic environment.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Suhum, Margret Darko, bemoaned the poor attitude of some residents towards the environment. She said despite the provision of 16 waste containers in the communities, people still dump waste in the open describing it as unacceptable.
The launch of the “Environmental Care Campaign” was attended by Traditional rulers, Muslim leaders, Zoomlion officials, NADMO, Police and other heads of Departments. It was followed with a float in the Suhum Township, to share leaflets aimed at awareness creation and a massive clean-up exercise on Saturday.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
