A global competitiveness report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has stated that poor sanitation is destroying the image of Ghana and hampering the attraction of foreign investments.
Consequently, a senior lecturer of Health Service Management at the University of Ghana Business School, Aaron Abuosi has charged government to improve the sanitation situation in the country to attract investments.
He noted that poor sanitation has negatively affected the reputation of the country as an investor friendly destination.
Speaking at the release of the 2013 World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness report, Abuosi insisted that even though Ghana’s public health situation is better than that of some West African nations, there is more room for improvement.
[contextly_sidebar id=”OfcgEQERlVqjmPslvNQTgCCj1mGkgggj”]He advised that finding effective ways of tackling the problem will solve the cyclical outbreak of cholera and reduce malaria and typhoid infections as well.
“The cholera outbreak is a mullet of problems that has culminated into this and that has to do most with the sanitation aspect which. You will observe that it is worse in the cities, and that is why it has started in the Greater Accra Region and it is spreading to the rest of the regions. When the sanitation issue is addressed, this issue of cholera, typhoid and so on will be reduced,” explained.
A cholera outbreak in seven regions in the country has infected over 10,000 people and claimed 92 lives.
As part of efforts to mitigate the situation, however, government has increased medical supplies to health centers in the country to cater for the increasing number of patients reporting daily for medical attention.
It has also requested for oral vaccines from the World Health Organization (WHO) to stop the spread of the disease and reduce the number of deaths.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is advocating for a ban to be placed on the sale of food on the streets which is believed to be contributing to the spread of cholera.
By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana