Bolgatanga, Aug. 28, GNA - Media Practitioners have been urged to highlight sanitation issues, that were seriously affecting the society. Ms Irene Mensah, a representative of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRDE) made the call during a Photo Exhibition in connection with the International Year of Sanitation (IYS), held in Bolgatanga, Upper East region. Ms Mensah who is also the Coordinator in charge of the Photo Exhibition and Media Briefing of the IYS, stressed that there was the need for the media to do more research and dissemination on sanitation, especially its impacts on public health, economic and social development, and the environment.

She indicated that sanitation was not a dirty word as depicted by majority of the population. "You the media need to constantly pose questions on sanitation that are challenging, so as to improve it," she said. She explained that it would be difficult for Ghana to achieve a middle income level with the present level of deplorable sanitation situation and said in the Upper East Region, 17.5 per cent of 1,134 household members had improved sanitation facilities, ranking the region in the 9th position out of the 10 regions.

Ms Mensah said according to statistics published by the Joint Monitoring Platform at the end of 2006, Ghana was in the 48th position in Africa out of 52 countries and 14th in West Africa out of 15 countries beating only Niger. The Upper East Regional Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Abugbilla Mathew Asampana, said one of the major sanitation problems in the region was open defecation and dumping of waste at places unapproved by Environmental Protection Agency. He also indicated that most households did not cover their drinking water containers and did not also clean their poultry pens. He asked the Media to educate the people on the harmful effects of not paying proper attention to good sanitation practices. Mr Emmanuel Adii, Extension Services Specialist of Community Water and Sanitation, called for the need for improved collaboration and coordination between major stakeholders in sanitation delivery in the region.

Mr Adii also stressed the need for increased political commitment backed with resources for the implementation of sanitation activities. The first runner-up in the 'Ghana Most Beautiful' pageant for 2008, Miss Eyram Dotse, appealed to Ghanaians to practice good sanitation, to prolong their lifespan. She appealed to the media to create sanitation columns in papers to educate the general public on the need to maintain good hygiene. She called on stakeholders in sanitation to form what she termed "Sanitary guards" to go round to help ensure that good environmental practices were adhered to. Participants emphasized the need for district assemblies to make it compulsory for all landlords to provide places of convenience for tenants in their houses.

The UN General Assembly in December 2006, declared 2008 as IYS, aimed at drawing the world's attention to the impact of sanitation on public health, economic and social development, and the environment, and to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goals. 28 Aug. 08