Pomadze (C/R), Jan. 22, GNA - Dr Charles Ntiamoah Takyi, Deputy Central Regional Director of Health Service responsible for Clinical Care, has charged chiefs in the Region to form special sanitation committees to help improve cleanliness in their communities. The committees Dr Takyi said should be made to organize weekly public meetings in their areas of operation to educate the people on the dangers posed by filthy environments.

He said this would compliment Government efforts at keeping the nation out of the reach of avoidable diseases resulting from dirty surroundings.

Dr Takyi said such community sanitation sensitisation committees would play key roles in the attainment of the objectives of the "Nsamansaman" department of the Ministry of Health, which has been reactivated by the Government under the Local Government system. The "Nsamansaman, division which assisted the colonial administration to keep communities tidy and protected the people against rampant outbreak of malaria and other preventable diseases, kept the people alert all the time about their environmental and domestic sanitation obligations.

Dr. Takyi, also known as Nana Ahor Takyi I, Apomudzenhene of Gomoa in the Central Region, was commenting on the re-introduction of the "Nsamansaman, good health promotional strategy, when he interacted with the Ghana News Agency at Pomadze, near Winneba Junction, over the weekend.

He expressed the hope that traditional councils in the Region would accept the challenge to impress upon all divisional and sub-chiefs as well as community heads under their jurisdiction, to put in place sanitation improvement committees.

Dr Takyi advised health officials who would be charged with the responsibility of implementing the "Nsamansaman" health policy, to give the system a human face to ensure effective and orderly implementation when it becomes operational in the course of the year.

He appealed to churches and other religious leaders to incorporate the system into their weekly religious services to enable it to impact positively on the lives of their members and the society as a whole. 22 Jan. 07