Bolgatanga, Dec. 25, GNA - Mr Rockson Bukari, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has urged people in the Municipality to do more to ensure regular cleanliness of their surroundings to prevent the outbreak of communicable diseases.

Mr Bukari made the appeal when he launched the Assembly's Sanitation Week in the Upper East Regional capital on Wednesday. He said despite efforts being made by the Assembly to address the deplorable sanitation problem in the area, some residents continued to dump refuse indiscriminately, while others defecate in the open.

The MCE advised the people to desist from such unhygienic acts, and announced that a Sanitation Taskforce had been set up by the Assembly to deal with all sanitation-related offences in the township. On the National Health Insurance Scheme, Mr Bukari said the its benefits were enormous because it would cover the health needs of both the privileged and the under-privileged.

The Bolgatanga District Director of Health Services, Dr William Duodu, said ignorance of basic community cleanliness measures contributed to the outbreak of diseases in the rural areas.

"Improved domestic and community cleanliness is a preventive measure which would cut down the cost of healthcare, reduce poverty, improve child survival rates and make us live longer," he said.

The launch was preceded by a route march of workers, assembly members and voluntary organisations through the principal streets of Bolgatanga.