MPs push for action on unposted health officers

By: Ernest Afram

The Parliamentary Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources has called on the Ministry of Finance to urgently release funds to enable the posting of more than 2,000 Environmental Health Officers to Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.

According to the Committee, the continued delay in posting the trained officers—many of whom graduated from the country’s Schools of Hygiene in 2021—is undermining national efforts to improve sanitation and protect public health.

Chairman of the Committee, John Oti Bless, described the situation as “unfortunate and preventable,” urging the Finance Ministry to issue the necessary financial clearance for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to proceed with the postings.

“Over 2,000 graduates have been sitting at home since 2021. They have not been posted, and we think that is unfortunate. We know our colleague, the Finance Minister, is a listening person. They should do everything possible to issue clearance so these young graduates can be posted,” Mr. Bless said.

He stressed that the shortage of sanitation personnel at the local level is severely affecting efforts to address the country’s growing waste management challenges.

“Today, at many MMDAs, one environmental officer is responsible for over 8,000 people. How are we going to succeed in the fight against sanitation? We want a clean environment,” he added.

This situation stands in sharp contrast to the World Health Organization’s recommendation of one Environmental Health Officer per 800 people—a standard Ghana is currently far from meeting.

Public health experts and sanitation advocates have echoed the Committee’s concerns, urging the government to invest in the sanitation workforce and infrastructure. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to working with all stakeholders to ensure qualified Environmental Health Officers are deployed to serve the communities that need them most.