The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has joined communities around the world to mark World Environmental Health Day, highlighting the need for science-led action to tackle environmental health risks in Accra. The theme of this year's celebration is "Environmental Health: Standing with Science to Protect Communities." The AMA's Metro Public Health Department noted that Accra continues to face environmental health challenges linked to poor sanitation, unsafe food handling, waste pollution, flooding, air pollution, and rising temperatures.
According to the AMA, addressing these environmental health risks requires evidence-based policies backed by effective enforcement and practical action at the community level. Citing World Bank estimates, the Assembly said pollution of air, land, and water has been associated with about nine million premature deaths globally, representing 16 percent of deaths in the year assessed. However, the AMA stressed that this figure is a historical global estimate and should not be interpreted as a current Ghana-specific statistic.
The AMA also cited reports indicating that air pollution is associated with about 33,000 premature deaths annually in Ghana. Furthermore, the World Health Organisation has attributed more than 9,000 premature deaths to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities in Ghana. The AMA noted growing concerns over heat-related health risks, including heat stress and heat stroke, as temperatures rise.
The Metro Public Health Department has reached 29,408 out of 62,386 premises through education, enforcement, and sensitization activities, representing about 47 percent of the premises identified. The department has also registered and screened 9,195 food handlers, with 8,822, representing 96 percent, passing the screening and receiving certificates. A total of 6,143 food premises were educated on public health requirements.
The department has conducted sensitization activities in nine markets and visited and educated 238 of 240 schools, representing about 99 percent. Among the schools assessed, 78 percent had accredited waste collection services, 86 percent had dustbins, and 69 percent had standard sanitary facilities. The department has also prosecuted 262 sanitation offenders and installed 13 air-quality sensors across the metropolis.
Director of the Metro Public Health Department, Florence Kuukyi, emphasized that scientific evidence would have limited impact if it did not translate into practical action. She called for a stronger connection between scientific research, local decision-making, and everyday community practices to protect public health. The AMA urged residents, traders, food handlers, institutions, and community leaders to take practical steps to reduce environmental health risks.
The Assembly called for closer collaboration between scientific institutions, local authorities, and communities to ensure that research and environmental health data inform decisions and lead to practical measures that protect residents. World Environmental Health Day provides an opportunity to highlight the connection between environmental conditions and public health outcomes. For Accra, rapid urbanization, sanitation challenges, seasonal flooding, air pollution, and increasing heat risks continue to require coordinated action based on reliable evidence.
Key points
- The Accra Metropolitan Assembly calls for science-led action to tackle environmental health risks in Accra.
- Pollution of air, land, and water has been associated with about nine million premature deaths globally.
- The AMA has prosecuted 262 sanitation offenders and installed 13 air-quality sensors across the metropolis.
