Editorial
Let’s pay attention to sanitation
Globally, poor sanitation is not healthy for the socio-economic development of any community, and for this reason, we would have to do all we can to prevent such unfortunate situation.
Indeed, poor sanitation brings about ill health and it is in view of this that no effort should be spared to ensure that we pay due attention to it.
We do not need to remind anyone that poor sanitary conditions are detrimental to the future survival of our community as we spend huge sums of money going to health centres for treatment; aside squandering precious time that could have been used to encourage productivity within the community.
In addition, when people fall sick, they feel very uncomfortable. The discomfort they go through hugely affect their rate of work and draw back the level of productivity within the community.
In light of all this, there is the need for society to pay attention to sanitation and prevent poor sanitary conditions that weigh us down as people who thirst for rapid socio-economic development.
The Clean Your Frontage campaign launched by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, in Accra is a move that should be supported by all and sundry. If for nothing at all, it is said “cleanliness is next to godliness”, so keeping our environment clean should be encouraged at all times.
It is good that some officers have been trained to go round the various communities to ensure that the exercise of cleanliness is carried out to the letter and obeyed in all parts of the Greater Accra Region – and Ghana as a whole.
The Spectator supports this programme that is why it is devoting another editorial to support the sensitisation of keeping the environment clean in the national capital, Accra.
Officers of the Response Team should keep their nose to the grindstone and live up to expectation by ensuring that those who go contrary to the by-laws are made to face the consequences in terms of penalty.
If this is done, diseases can be brought under control and choked gutters would also be free from filth to enable the gutters remain as clean as possible. Upshot of this is that, the free flow of water in the gutters will make it impossible for mosquitoes to lay eggs and cause havoc in form of Malaria to the people.
It has been pointed out already, it is incumbent upon everybody in the country to support the Operation Clean Your Frontage campaign for good quality health and socio-economic development.
Editorial
Kudos to Ho Teaching Hospital staff, but …
Dear Editor,
If there is any group of professionals that get bad-mouthed the most, then you are referring to nurses and medical doctors assigned to public hospitals across the country.
For this particular letter, I want to sing the praises of this same group of professionals that work at the Ho Teaching Hospital, famously known as Trafalgar.
Despite the work load and the mass casualties received at the emergency ward of the hospital, the welcoming nature of the nurses and the professional touch by the doctors can’t be ignored. My personal experience has got me travelling from my base in Accra to seek medical services from these professionals.
Special mention has to be made of the likes of Precious of the Pharmacy Department, Dr Brandon Banor (a maxillofacial resident) of the Dental unit, male nurse Justice assigned to the female surgical ward. Words cannot really do justice to their affable, professional caring nature. A simple thank you is all that I can say.
In the same vein, I can’t but call out the bad attitude of the auxiliary staff and contractors of the hospital.
Chief among them is some of the contracted bank staff that handle the payment section of the hospital and the patient registration section (those that check the status of the patient as to whether they are fee paying patients or NHIS sponsored).
The attitude at times leaves a bad taste in the mouth. One such occurrence was a night staff of the registration section who had her legs on the office table whilst talking to patients.
The CEO of the hospital needs to shine his torch light on this support sections before they erode the awesome performance of the direct medical staff of the hospital.
Thank you for the space.
Kwesi Manu
Accra
Editorial
Develop policies to address disability concerns
Dear Editor,
AT the beginning of the year, when I went to the bank to deposit money into my uncle’s account, I observed a very sad situation where a man in a wheelchair struggled to navigate his way around the facility.
This is because the structure is disability unfriendly.
As I stood and watched how the man struggled to move his wheelchair, I felt sad and wondered if this is how the life of a disabled person should be. It becomes worse if there is no one to offer help.
In Ghana, People With Disabilities (PWDs) are often treated differently and are often subjected to all forms of discrimination.
Most of these people find themselves in such a situation as a result of unfortunate happenings such as accidents and injuries.
It is, therefore, not appropriate for anyone to discriminate against them. Discrimination against such persons take many forms, including how buildings are constructed.
Most of the public structures are not disability friendly and impede their movement.
As a country, we should consider the PWDs in designing our structures. I also think that there should be a national policy that seeks to address this issue.
I have a strong conviction that when such a policy is developed by the government, people with disabilities would feel appreciated and also promote social inclusivity.
Ray,
Kasoa
