Abuakwa (Ash), Aug. 7, GNA - Dr George Amofa, Acting Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has deplored the increasing spate of diseases caused by untidy environment and called for attitudinal change from Ghanaians to solve the problem. He stressed the need for people to lead healthy lifestyles such as recreational activities, body exercising and proper dietary and personal hygiene to ensure healthy lives.

Dr Amofa was speaking at the opening of the ninth national public health retreat of the public health division of the GHS at Abuakwa in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District of Ashanti on Monday. The five-day retreat being attended by over 80 nutritionists, health educators, disease control officers, programmers, public health nurses and medical doctors nationwide, is on the theme: "Strengthening Public Health Interventions for High Impact in Line with the new Health Paradigm Shift".

The retreat will enable the health practitioners to provide inputs for the preparation of 2006-2011 Comprehensive Multi-Year Plan (CMYP) and address specific issues on performance of regional and district hospitals.

The participants will also deliberate among others issues the Division's key priority interventions for 2006-2007 and review challenges in key areas such as child health, nutrition, malaria and immunisation.

Dr Amofa, who is the Director of Public Health, said the health directorate was focusing on establishing functional community-based network of volunteers, especially women's groups to provide high inputs in the health paradigm of the country.

Dr Nana Kwadwo Asafo-Agyei, National Programme Manager for Immunisation, said the incidence of measles and other childhood diseases had been reduced greatly in the country. He said there was the need for health workers to operate within their designed scope to reduce health-related diseases leaving other health problems to be solved by the metropolitan and district assemblies.

Dr Kofi Asare, Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, called on the participants to come out with solutions to environmental diseases such as malaria and typhoid. He called on the Ghana Health Service to help solve the financial and logistics problems facing health administration in the country. 7 Aug. 06