Science Journal of Public Health

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Pictures Don’t Lie

Received: 22 April 2015    Accepted: 18 May 2015    Published: 29 May 2015
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Abstract

Ghana is confronted with persistent environmental challenges such as its inability to re-cycle its domestic and industrial waste. Ghana has no adequate waste treatment plant in any of its leading cities or towns and a general lack of best environmental practices, although there are currently plans to install state of the art waste management plant in the capital city. The Central Government does not adequately resource the municipal governments with the constitutionally allocable portions from the centrally planned budget to be able to provide services such as sanitation, refuse collection, road maintenance and related functions to improve the health of the environment and thus the communities. The public-private-partnership meant to supplement municipal environmental waste and sanitation management has been co-opted by central government operatives so much so that they appear as if they are inseparable and integral part of the municipal governments. Due to such close association and other systemic failures, the public-private-partnership in the industry is fraught with allegations of cronyism, renting seeking behaviors, and sweet-heart arrangements. As a result, the arrangements do not function efficiently or effectively, except in very limited city spaces in the central business districts and neighborhoods with large expatriate presences together with high ranking government functionaries. Generally, the public health of the population is compromised. The lack of good programs and operations in Ghana’s environmental practices has led to the outbreak of diseases such as malaria and cholera resulting in morbidity and mortality among the population on a yearly basis. Cholera, an internationally reported disease, is a significant killer in Ghana today. In many nations in the 21st Century, this disease does not even feature in the list of threats to the health of the public. Malaria continues to be a major public health saboteur disease. There appears to be official denial about the lack of real improvements towards the Millennium Development Goal 7. This paper attempts to provide photographic evidence about the situation on the ground in the capital city of Ghana, Accra; and to raise the alarm that the veracity of Ghana about its progress towards MDG 7 may be in serious doubt.

DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16
Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 4, July 2015)
Page(s) 487-499
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Millennium Development Goal, Public-Private-Partnership, Sanitation, Refuse Collection, Environment

References
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[3] UNISDR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) (2013). Annual Report 2012, UNISDR, Geneva
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[7] Boadi, K. O. & Kuitunen M. (2005). Environmental Health Impacts of Household Solid Waste Handling and Disposal Practices in Third World Cities: The case of the Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana. Journal of Environmental Health, Vol. 68. 32-35
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[14] Scholl, M.A., Cozzarelli, I.M., Christenson, S.C., Istok, J., Jaeschke, J., Ferree, D.M., and Senko, J., (2001). Measuring variability of in-situ biodegradation rates in a heterogeneous aquifer contaminated by landfill leachate: EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 82, no. 20, May 15, 2001, p. 146.
[15] Istok, J.D., Humphrey, M.D., Schroth, M.H., Hyman, M.R., and O'Reilly, K.T., (1997), Single-well, "push-pull" test for in situ determination of microbial activities: Ground Water, v. 35, no. 4, p. 619-631.
[16] Daily Graphic 2015:23/1/15. Queen mother takes cleanliness campaign to Agbogbloshie
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[20] Adimado, A.A. and Baah, D.A. (2002). Mercury in human blood, urine, hair, nails, and fish from the Ankobra and Tano River Basins in southwestern Ghana. Environmental Contamination and toxicology. Vol. 68: 339-346
[21] Murphy, T.P., Irvine, K.N., Sampson, M. and Parr, T. (2008). Mercury Contamination along the Mekong River, Cambodia. Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Vol. 6, No.1, pp. 1-9.
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[28] Dempouo, D.L., 1 Bradford, D.G., Ondobo A. G. and Mballa, G. A. E. (2013). National Surveillance Data on the Epidemiology of Cholera in Cameroon. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Vol. 208(S1):S92–7
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Author Information
  • School of Public Health, (Hohoe campus) University of Health and Allied Sciences Ho, Volta Region, Ghana; Institute for Security, Disaster and Emergency Studies Sandpiper Place, Langma, Central Region, Ghana

  • University of Health and Allied Sciences Ho, Volta Region, Dept. of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Ghana

  • School of Public Health, (Hohoe campus) University of Health and Allied Sciences Ho, Volta Region, Ghana, Dept. of Epidemiology and Disease Control

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  • APA Style

    Norman Ishmael D., Binka Fred Newton, Norvivor Forgive Awo. (2015). Pictures Don’t Lie. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(4), 487-499. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16

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    ACS Style

    Norman Ishmael D.; Binka Fred Newton; Norvivor Forgive Awo. Pictures Don’t Lie. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 3(4), 487-499. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16

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    AMA Style

    Norman Ishmael D., Binka Fred Newton, Norvivor Forgive Awo. Pictures Don’t Lie. Sci J Public Health. 2015;3(4):487-499. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16,
      author = {Norman Ishmael D. and Binka Fred Newton and Norvivor Forgive Awo},
      title = {Pictures Don’t Lie},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {487-499},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.16},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20150304.16},
      abstract = {Ghana is confronted with persistent environmental challenges such as its inability to re-cycle its domestic and industrial waste. Ghana has no adequate waste treatment plant in any of its leading cities or towns and a general lack of best environmental practices, although there are currently plans to install state of the art waste management plant in the capital city. The Central Government does not adequately resource the municipal governments with the constitutionally allocable portions from the centrally planned budget to be able to provide services such as sanitation, refuse collection, road maintenance and related functions to improve the health of the environment and thus the communities. The public-private-partnership meant to supplement municipal environmental waste and sanitation management has been co-opted by central government operatives so much so that they appear as if they are inseparable and integral part of the municipal governments. Due to such close association and other systemic failures, the public-private-partnership in the industry is fraught with allegations of cronyism, renting seeking behaviors, and sweet-heart arrangements. As a result, the arrangements do not function efficiently or effectively, except in very limited city spaces in the central business districts and neighborhoods with large expatriate presences together with high ranking government functionaries. Generally, the public health of the population is compromised. The lack of good programs and operations in Ghana’s environmental practices has led to the outbreak of diseases such as malaria and cholera resulting in morbidity and mortality among the population on a yearly basis. Cholera, an internationally reported disease, is a significant killer in Ghana today. In many nations in the 21st Century, this disease does not even feature in the list of threats to the health of the public. Malaria continues to be a major public health saboteur disease. There appears to be official denial about the lack of real improvements towards the Millennium Development Goal 7. This paper attempts to provide photographic evidence about the situation on the ground in the capital city of Ghana, Accra; and to raise the alarm that the veracity of Ghana about its progress towards MDG 7 may be in serious doubt.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AB  - Ghana is confronted with persistent environmental challenges such as its inability to re-cycle its domestic and industrial waste. Ghana has no adequate waste treatment plant in any of its leading cities or towns and a general lack of best environmental practices, although there are currently plans to install state of the art waste management plant in the capital city. The Central Government does not adequately resource the municipal governments with the constitutionally allocable portions from the centrally planned budget to be able to provide services such as sanitation, refuse collection, road maintenance and related functions to improve the health of the environment and thus the communities. The public-private-partnership meant to supplement municipal environmental waste and sanitation management has been co-opted by central government operatives so much so that they appear as if they are inseparable and integral part of the municipal governments. Due to such close association and other systemic failures, the public-private-partnership in the industry is fraught with allegations of cronyism, renting seeking behaviors, and sweet-heart arrangements. As a result, the arrangements do not function efficiently or effectively, except in very limited city spaces in the central business districts and neighborhoods with large expatriate presences together with high ranking government functionaries. Generally, the public health of the population is compromised. The lack of good programs and operations in Ghana’s environmental practices has led to the outbreak of diseases such as malaria and cholera resulting in morbidity and mortality among the population on a yearly basis. Cholera, an internationally reported disease, is a significant killer in Ghana today. In many nations in the 21st Century, this disease does not even feature in the list of threats to the health of the public. Malaria continues to be a major public health saboteur disease. There appears to be official denial about the lack of real improvements towards the Millennium Development Goal 7. This paper attempts to provide photographic evidence about the situation on the ground in the capital city of Ghana, Accra; and to raise the alarm that the veracity of Ghana about its progress towards MDG 7 may be in serious doubt.
    VL  - 3
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