Environmental Health workers call on govt for urgent support

Environmental health workers in Ghana have called on the government to urgently support them to effectively discharge their duties as sanitation and health practitioners.

The workers raised concerns about the inadequate provision of logistics and infrastructure, which is hampering their ability to address health-related matters in the country.

Speaking at the Environmental Health Day Celebration held on September 26, 2023, Metro Public Environmental Health Officer for the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Florence Kuukyii, said: “Today’s environmental health worker is being neglected by the government. We have been neglected infrastructure-wise, logistics-wise, and all the others.”

Kwabena Owusu Amissah, a senior health tutor for the Environmental Health Department of the Accra School of Hygiene at Korle-Bu, also echoed the call for support: “It is incumbent upon us as responsible citizens and leaders to recognize the importance of supporting the work of environmental health officers.”

Environmental health workers play a vital role in protecting public health by ensuring the safe and sanitary disposal of waste, monitoring air and water quality, and preventing the spread of diseases. However, their work is often overlooked and underappreciated.