Kumasi, Sept. 8, GNA - A two-day workshop aimed at updating the skills of some selected media practitioners across the country for increased quality of reportage on sanitation issues has ended in Kumasi. It was organised by the Ghana Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the water and sanitation sector in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment and supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

Topics treated included writing skills on sanitation issues as well as the techniques, challenges, benefits and obstacles, sanitation facts and figures and the media's role in improving sanitation in the country. Addressing the closing session, Dr Anthony Bonnah Koomson, a lecturer at the School of Communications Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, said the sustainable development of the country hinges on improve sanitation.

"Poor sanitation impacts negatively on human dignity, causes misery, impedes productivity, strains our health care system and consigns millions of people into abject poverty," he observed. The Communication Expert was not happy that sanitation related diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis top the cases at out-patient's departments (OPDs) at various health facilities in the country, saying this had for sometime now caused untold hardships and deaths to Ghanaians. He noted that improved sanitation services and hygiene practices needed to be emphasised as a major element for the building of human capability in the full poverty reduction strategy for Ghana. Dr Koomson suggested to the Ministry of Local Government to strive to set up a task force, as a matter of urgency, to thoroughly discuss and come out with conclusions on the issue of harmonizing definitions and approaches for data collection on sanitation. This, he said, will help reduce disparities in data and clarify the actual Millenium Development Goal (MDG) coverage of sanitation for Ghana, saying, in this regard the ministry should clearly define the indicators and minimal standards for measuring what constitutes improved sanitation, and develop a time frame for all data collection institutions to adhere to these indicators. 8 Sept. 08