The Volta Region of Ghana appears to be neglected under the national commitment to the Millennium Development Goals # 7. This impression was informed by the results of a rapid diagnosis of a select group of communities in the region, hence this study. We assessed general government compliance with MDG #7 with specific regard to the Volta Region. We aimed to also help to define the nature and extent of the challenges under MDG #7 facing the region, and propose solutions to implementation difficulties applicable to other regions similarly situated. This assessment was conducted on the legal principle of ‘res ipsa loquitur’, the thing speaks for itself without a comparator regional analysis. This approach was to avoid detracting the focus on the issues specific to the Volta Region to the convenience of comparative analysis. The result shows that many households in the region at both rural and urban places and spaces have no built-in toilet facilities. Waste management at the municipal and household level is a challenge. Open defecation and reckless discharge of domestic waste are twin threats to the public health in the region. This study has validated the earlier suspicion that the Volta Region is being neglected in terms of the provision of basic social and communal amenities. The MDG goal #7 would not be attainable with respect to the Volta Region by 2015 or anytime soon due to the perceived and real neglect of the region.
Published in | Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 1, Issue 2) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11 |
Page(s) | 14-20 |
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), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Community Diagnosis, Volta Region, Vulnerabilities, Infrastructure, Water and Sanitation, Health and Waste Management, Housing and Income Disparities
[1] | S. D. Vordzorgbe, R. Bhavnani, M. Owor and F. Bousquet, Report on the Status of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Sub-Saharan African Region, Commission of the African Union, UNISDR, World Bank, Nairobi, pp. 1-84, 2008. |
[2] | Action Aid International, Climate change, urban flooding and the rights of the urban poor in Africa. Key Findings from six African Cities. A report by Action Aid, October, 2006. |
[3] | S. Asthana, and R. Oostvogels, Community participation in HIV prevention: Problems and prospects for community-based strategies among female sex workers in Madras, 1996. |
[4] | J. Karver, C. Kenny, and A. Summer, MDG 2.0: What goals, targets, and timeframe, pp. 1-57, 2012. Available: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.20400209.2012.00398.x/abstract. |
[5] | A. Attaran, An immeasurable crisis? A criticism of the millennium development goals and why they cannot be measured, pp. 955, 2005. Available: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020318. |
[6] | K. O. Boadi, and M. Kuitunen, 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, pp. 32-35, 2005. |
[7] | Water and Sanitation sector monitoring platform (WSMP) Ghana, Briefing note; use of improved sanitation facilities in Ghana, 2008. |
[8] | UNICEF, and WHO, A snapshot of Sanitation in Africa, UNICEF/WHO Joint monitoring programme, prepared for the African conference in Duban, South Africa, 2008. |
[9] | T. Clasen, and S. Sugden, Water and sanitation; the scope of Public Health: Oxford textbook of Public Health, vol. 1, pp. 159-1176, 2009. |
[10] | T. Getahun, E. Mengistie, A. Haddis, F. Wasie, E. Alemayehu, D. Dadi, T. Van Gerven, and B. Van der Bruggen, Municipal solid waste generation I growing urban areas in Africa: current practices and relation to socioeconomic factors in Jimma, Ethiopia, Vol. 184, pp. 6337-6345, 2012. |
[11] | UNICEF, and WHO, Progress on sanitation and drinking water, JMP, 2013. |
[12] | I. D. Norman, O. Alhassan, F. Zotor, E. K. Derbile, F. Cudjoe, M. Sahnoon, and B. M. Awiah, Ghana Report on Urbanization and Climate Change: The case of Ho, Tamale, Ashaiman and Sodom & Gomorrah. RILab, West Africa Region, Resilient Africa Network, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Volta Region, 2013. |
[13] | W. N. Adger, T. P. Hughes, C. Folke, S. R. Carpenter, and J. Rockstorm, Social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters, Science, vol. 309(5737), pp. 1036, 2005. |
[14] | R. Harrington, P. Carroll, S. Cook, C. Harrington, M. Scholz, and R. J. Mclnnes, Integrated constructed wetlands: water management as a land-use issue, implementing the 'Ecosystem Approach', pp. 2929-2937, 2011. Available: http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/06312/wst063122929.htm. |
[15] | J. R. Lori, S. Rominski, J. Richardson, B. P. Agyei, N. E. Kweku, and M. Gyakobo, Factors influencing Ghanaian midwifery students’ willingness to work in rural areas: A computerized survey, pp. 834-841, 2012. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002074891200051X. |
[16] | United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT), Ghana: Ho City Profile, Regional Technical Cooperation Division. ISBN Number: 978-92-1-132172-2, 2009. |
APA Style
Mavis Pearl Kwabla, Ishmael D. Norman, Margaret Kweku, Wisdom Takramah, Gregory K. Amenuvegbe, et al. (2015). Investigation into the Perceived Neglect of the Volta Region, Ghana, under Millennium Development Goal 7. Central African Journal of Public Health, 1(2), 14-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11
ACS Style
Mavis Pearl Kwabla; Ishmael D. Norman; Margaret Kweku; Wisdom Takramah; Gregory K. Amenuvegbe, et al. Investigation into the Perceived Neglect of the Volta Region, Ghana, under Millennium Development Goal 7. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2015, 1(2), 14-20. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11
AMA Style
Mavis Pearl Kwabla, Ishmael D. Norman, Margaret Kweku, Wisdom Takramah, Gregory K. Amenuvegbe, et al. Investigation into the Perceived Neglect of the Volta Region, Ghana, under Millennium Development Goal 7. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2015;1(2):14-20. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11
@article{10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11, author = {Mavis Pearl Kwabla and Ishmael D. Norman and Margaret Kweku and Wisdom Takramah and Gregory K. Amenuvegbe and Prince Kubi Appiah and Eric Osei and Fred N. Binka}, title = {Investigation into the Perceived Neglect of the Volta Region, Ghana, under Millennium Development Goal 7}, journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health}, volume = {1}, number = {2}, pages = {14-20}, doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20150102.11}, abstract = {The Volta Region of Ghana appears to be neglected under the national commitment to the Millennium Development Goals # 7. This impression was informed by the results of a rapid diagnosis of a select group of communities in the region, hence this study. We assessed general government compliance with MDG #7 with specific regard to the Volta Region. We aimed to also help to define the nature and extent of the challenges under MDG #7 facing the region, and propose solutions to implementation difficulties applicable to other regions similarly situated. This assessment was conducted on the legal principle of ‘res ipsa loquitur’, the thing speaks for itself without a comparator regional analysis. This approach was to avoid detracting the focus on the issues specific to the Volta Region to the convenience of comparative analysis. The result shows that many households in the region at both rural and urban places and spaces have no built-in toilet facilities. Waste management at the municipal and household level is a challenge. Open defecation and reckless discharge of domestic waste are twin threats to the public health in the region. This study has validated the earlier suspicion that the Volta Region is being neglected in terms of the provision of basic social and communal amenities. The MDG goal #7 would not be attainable with respect to the Volta Region by 2015 or anytime soon due to the perceived and real neglect of the region.}, year = {2015} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Investigation into the Perceived Neglect of the Volta Region, Ghana, under Millennium Development Goal 7 AU - Mavis Pearl Kwabla AU - Ishmael D. Norman AU - Margaret Kweku AU - Wisdom Takramah AU - Gregory K. Amenuvegbe AU - Prince Kubi Appiah AU - Eric Osei AU - Fred N. Binka Y1 - 2015/07/15 PY - 2015 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11 DO - 10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11 T2 - Central African Journal of Public Health JF - Central African Journal of Public Health JO - Central African Journal of Public Health SP - 14 EP - 20 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-5781 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20150102.11 AB - The Volta Region of Ghana appears to be neglected under the national commitment to the Millennium Development Goals # 7. This impression was informed by the results of a rapid diagnosis of a select group of communities in the region, hence this study. We assessed general government compliance with MDG #7 with specific regard to the Volta Region. We aimed to also help to define the nature and extent of the challenges under MDG #7 facing the region, and propose solutions to implementation difficulties applicable to other regions similarly situated. This assessment was conducted on the legal principle of ‘res ipsa loquitur’, the thing speaks for itself without a comparator regional analysis. This approach was to avoid detracting the focus on the issues specific to the Volta Region to the convenience of comparative analysis. The result shows that many households in the region at both rural and urban places and spaces have no built-in toilet facilities. Waste management at the municipal and household level is a challenge. Open defecation and reckless discharge of domestic waste are twin threats to the public health in the region. This study has validated the earlier suspicion that the Volta Region is being neglected in terms of the provision of basic social and communal amenities. The MDG goal #7 would not be attainable with respect to the Volta Region by 2015 or anytime soon due to the perceived and real neglect of the region. VL - 1 IS - 2 ER -