By Albert Allotey
Accra, June 5, GNA – The Ministry of Health on Thursday officially outdoored the Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development, Ghana (VAST-Ghana), a public health civil society organisation.
The VAST-Ghana was founded by Mr Labram M. Musah, the Executive Director of the organisation with the mission and vision to advocate for good health of the citizenry, especially among the youth across the country and beyond.
Dr Hafiz Adam Taher, the Technical Coordinator at the Ministry of Health who performed the outdooring on behalf of the Minister commended the organisation for its work in assisting in the Ghana’s healthcare delivery space.
He said the VAST-Ghana had helped to achieve a lot in tobacco control, mentioning the passage of the Excise Duty (Amendment) Act in 2023 which introduced a mixed tax structure that significantly increased the price of cigarettes and strengthened Ghana’s fiscal measures against tobacco consumption, and among others,
He congratulated the staff of the organisation for their unwavering support to the leader of the organisation for their journey of ensuring that the people of Ghana are protected from health harming products in the country.
Ms Chenai Mukumba, the Executive Director of Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) lauded the Executive Director of VAST-Ghana for his steadfastness in leading the organisation to reach such recognition.
She assured of TJNA’s continuous support of the organisation to help Ghana put measures in place to protect the health of the public.
Mr Labram Musah in a remark acknowledged stakeholders, global partners, especially the World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health, Tax Justice Network Africa, and Movendi International, among others for their support throughout the journey of VAST-Ghana.
He expressed gratitude to the staff and his family for their unwavering assistance in carrying out the work of the organisation and urged them to continue to ensure that its aspirations were met.
The outdooring was performed together with the official launch of the Tobacco Tax Advocacy in Africa (TTAA) Project III in Ghana by the Tax Justice Network Africa.
The project seeks to strengthen advocacy for effective health taxes, particularly excise taxes on health harm products such as tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade