Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper West Regional Minister, has advised Ghanaians to patronise the Free Annual Health Check Initiative programme to know their health status, noting that healthy people are the wealth of any nation.

He said the programme was incorporated into the National Health Insurance Scheme meant for all citizens to benefit from the package at the hospitals and wellness centres across the country.

He said the programme would offer free screening for blood sugar, blood pressure, body mass index as well as counselling and referrals, aimed at early detection and management of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

Mr Yakubu gave the advice during the Regional Coordinating Council’s meeting held in Wa to discuss developmental issues of the region that would inure to the benefit of the people.

He said all Ghanaians aged 18 and above were allowed to access services during their birth month at designated health facilities irrespective of one’s National Health Insurance Scheme enrolment status.

On sanitation, the Regional Minister said that good sanitation could help control infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and other sanitary-related diseases, which had an impact, especially on child health.

Mr Yakubu announced that with the support of development partners, such as UNICEF, Water Aid-Canada, Global Communities and Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) for the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Concept, 825 communities had been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), representing 70 per cent of the total number of communities in the region, which stands at 1,167.

He entreated all district assemblies and traditional authorities to prioritise sanitation issues in their communities, particularly ODF, since it reflects directly on the general wellbeing of the people.

“The standard of sanitation of a country or community has a direct correlation with its level of development.

“In fact, we are not meeting our expectation in the sanitation delivery as a region as we are still around 15 per cent but that notwithstanding, our water coverage on the other hand is above 76 per cent,” he said.

Talking about this year’s election, Mr Yakubu pleaded with the people to ensure that there was absolute peace in the region before, during and after the election as their contribution towards ensuring sustainable democracy and development of the region and the country as a whole.

“As much as possible let us be decorous in our utterances and avoid hate speeches in our campaign activities,” he advised.

Municipal and District Chief Executives, District Coordinating Directors, Presiding Members, Heads of Government Departments and Traditional Rulers attended the meeting.