Editorial
Disposal of medical waste in Ghana …a harmful practice to the public
Dear Editor,
Medical waste is a dangerous waste generated by hospitals, clinics, health-care centres, laboratories and many others. This waste is usually generated during medical research, testing, diagnosis, immunisation or treatment of either human beings or animals. Some examples are culture dishes, glassware, bandages, gloves, discarded sharps like needles or scalpels, tissues and many more. Before the 1980, the regulations around medical waste were pretty loose.
Due to the hazardous nature of medical waste, it must be properly treated and disposed of to avoid possible contamination. Even though waste in general needs to be treated properly, medical waste needs extra attention and treatment. After all, medical waste placed in a domestic or council waste bins, must be disposed of properly.
Also, items that have been saturated and have more than trace amounts of body fluids need to be properly contained, treated, and disposed of as they carry the potential risk of spreading diseases and viruses.
Incineration is done with a machine called incinerator. This is a commonly used method, however, it generates harmful substances such as dioxin, and others.
While incineration of medical waste generates harmful substances such as dioxin and furan, steam sterilisation (autoclave) is environmental -friendly, mature and most economical non- incineration technology to process medical waste. The preferred method with the least impact on the environment is having it treated by autoclave. These devices use pressurised air and steam to sterilise the waste and can be used to treat 90 per cent of medical waste. It was founded in 1995 and it is the leading supplier of medical waste treatment in China. It is to provide clients a comprehensive medical waste treatment solution, one-stop supplying and high quality products with latest technology. The disposal capacity of a single autoclaves is from 1 -20 tonnes per day and free combination of autoclaves and full automatisation of the plant is available.
With the placenta and other human “tissues”, the law says it must be incinerated at a high temperature or buried at a significant depth and not to be placed in domestic or council waste bin.
Improving waste collection coverage of municipal areas, introducing mass community awareness raising and information campaigns will help to address negative community attitudes towards waste management.
Serwaa Marfo
Student, Ghana Institute of Journalism
Editorial
Fix railway crossing point on Circle-Kaneshie road
Dear Editor,
After the construction of the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange (Accra Dubai), Ghanaian were full of belief that it could solve at least a few of the problems drivers and commuters faced.
But currently, any regular user of the area would confirm that things have rather skyrocketed.
Sanitation is a big issue as the area. Traffic congestion has become something else while street lights and traffic lights in the area are nonfunctional.
Making matters worse is the regular traffic on the stretch of the Circle-Kaneshie caused by the bad nature of the railway crossing.
It is so bad that motorist are forced to slow down to cross from whichever direction they are coming from.
During the rainy season, it becomes worse as vehicles break down in the large pool of water that gathers at the place.
I wish to appeal to the Roads and Highways ministry or whichever agency is responsible for road maintenance to fix that part of the road.
As a result, public transport operators are forced to divert routes to avoid that area and in the process, causing commotion between drivers and passengers.
I feel that problem must be fixed before the rains set in. Thank you for the space.
Awuah Martin,
Kasoa, C/R
Editorial
Make celebration of Heritage Month compulsory
Heritage or Ghana Month is an annual event held in March to commemorate Ghana’s Independence and rich cultural heritage.
The event, which is celebrated across the country is gradually gaining momentum as schools and organisations have been patronising the event with various activities and programmes displaying Ghana’s rich culture.
Recently, in a vibrant display of Ghana’s culture students of Antoa Senior High School in the Ashanti Region joined forces with the Centre for National Culture (CNC) to launch the 2025 Ghana Month celebration.
According to our reporter, the event was a mixture of traditional cloth demonstrations, dance lessons, poetry recitals, and proverbs competitions as students and staff donned colourful traditional attires, showcasing their rich cultural heritage with infectious enthusiasm.
Some organisation like media houses were also not left out in the celebration of Ghana Month with Newscasters dressed in their traditional attires showcasing their culture while reading the news.
Such celebrations should be encouraged as one of the excited students of Antoa SHS exclaimed, “I never knew how rich our Ghanaian culture was until today. I’m proud to be Ghanaian.” This is a testimony of how the celebration will remind students of their roots and instill in them national values.
Ghana has so many cultures which are hidden and its time to make these cultures to project our rich Ghanaian culture to the outside world.
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) should collaborate with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Ghana Dance Ensemble to make the Ghana Month more visible in schools by organising activities to educate students on Ghanaian cultural values and norms, to promote national pride and identity.
The Spectator encourages the organisers to extend the celebration to more schools. This can be done through debates, essay writing competitions, among others to share Ghana’s rich heritage. It will help to revive the cultural spirit among the youth to become ambassadors of Ghana’ culture.
GTA must also take advantage of Ghana Month and team up with the hospitality industry such as restaurants, hoteliers, Chop Bar operators, among others to organise a traditional cuisine festival like cooking and eating competitions among organisations and associations to boost tourism in Ghana. Such competitions will give people insight into the preparations of Ghanaian local foods and drinks, and promote healthy living in families. The fashion industry should also come on board to help take Ghana Month a notch higher.
In the words of the Acting Regional Director of the CNC in the Ashanti Region, Mr Peter Kofi Marfo “Let us Wear Ghana, Eat Ghana, See Ghana, Speak Ghana, Hear and Dance Ghana, together, we’ll keep our cultural flame burning bright.”
The Spectator is hopeful that by making the celebration of Ghana Month compulsory. Ghanaians will remain committed to promoting their rich culture and heritage, for future generations.
