Disaster Awareness And Control Measures In Ghana

International Day for disaster reduction was instituted in 1989 and celebrated on every second Wednesday of October. However, it was changed to the 13th of October about two decades ago. The importance of the day is to create awareness on any life disaster risks that may possibly befall us in our day to day activities. Among these disasters includes, environmental pollution, workplace hazards, transportation hazards and natural occurrences. Nonetheless, Ghana as a nation falls below average in all above groupings, in terms of performance standards, as far as the International disaster reduction is concerned. This is because Ghana has achieved little, when we talk about environmental pollution, workplace hazards, transportation hazards and natural occurrences.  Though Ghana still lags behind in reduction of disasters, some commendations should be given to the current Government for the strong fight against illegal mining practices, popularly known as “galamsey”. The initiative may have led to some job loses; however, the impact of the operations on the environment far outweighs the benefits to the perpetrators. Ghanaians are just living by the grace for always recording fewer disasters. This should not give us reason to be unconcerned. The celebration of international day for disaster reduction must be a wakeup call for Ghanaian leaders in particular and African leaders in general to rejuvenate their emergency and forecasting institutions as well as disaster preparedness and empower institutions such as the Ghana National Fire Service and NADMO, to be more active than reactive in disaster management issues. The celebration of such an event should be seen as an opportunity by the government to sensitize and educate the masses on the need to prevent avoidable disasters. Again, it is vital to encourage, equip and provide the necessary support to the Ghana Red Cross Society to train more people in First-Aid administration and also to sensitize Ghanaians to basic First-Aid services. This can help in live preservation, deterioration avoidance and live recovery enhancement during disasters. It is also time for the Governments and for that matter, disaster management institutions to be accountable to Ghanaians in the area of disclosure of findings after investigations into disasters. In most cases when investigations are conducted into disasters the public is not briefed about the findings. When findings of disasters are shared the populace learn what to do to prevent disasters and what to do when they occur.  Let us all try to help prevent disasters.
BY: PHILIP NANA ASANTE – HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT EXPERT & CONSULTANT.

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