By Florence Afriyie Mensah,
Kwapaninn (Ash), Dec. 14, GNA – Mr David Kwarteng, Executive Director of the Institute of Nature, and Environmental Conservation (INEC) Ghana, has stressed the need to prioritize the health needs of the people while advocating for climate change actions and other environmental issues.
He said it was important for advocacy groups in climate change to prioritize and tackle the health of the people, especially those in rural communities, while mobilizing to tackle climate change and other related environmental issues.
Interacting with journalists during a free health screening exercise organized by INEC for residents of Kwapanin, near Abofour in the Offinso South District, he said it was important to educate and encourage people in rural communities to undertake regular health screening to help detect and diagnose diseases early for prompt treatment and management.
About 500 residents were screened for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis ‘B’, malaria, blood pressure, and skin infections, among others and where necessary, medications were provided.
The health professionals also took the opportunity to educate the community members on the need to ensure healthy lifestyles and good eating habits.
Mr. Kwarteng touching on the relevance of the health screening exercise at Kwapanin, said INEC Ghana, had in the last 18 months worked in the community as part of its major environmental and climate change mitigation programmes by planting indigenous trees, whose ecosystems had been broken due to environmental degradation.
It was important to prioritize the well-being of the people – ensuring that they were strong and fit to go about their daily routines and taking issues of the environment seriously.
Mr Kwarteng used the occasion to remind Ghanaians of the alarming rate of environmental degradation, saying climate change was real and the call to action was now.
He called for concerted efforts as citizens, to make positive impacts on the environment which would go a long way to reduce rising health issues posed by climate change effects.
Madam Felicity Afosaah, a resident of Kwapanin commended the organization for screening the residents.
She said although the community had a community health planning services (CHPS) compound, it was not every ailment that could be reported and rallied for such health screening programmes to be accessible to the locals.
GNA