The Ministry of Health has set up a health promotion division in Accra to educate the general public on the maintenance of good health and prevention of deadly diseases.
The health promotion division, situated at the Korle -Bu Teaching Hospital, is also to promote early preventive strategies and healthy behaviours. In addition, it will promote innovations on digital platforms for healthy lifestyles.
A Deputy Minister for Health, Mrs. Tina Mensah, who launched the unit, said health literacy was an effective health promotion approach that could accelerate actions to improve health outcomes for those who have been least served.
"Health literacy is the ability to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which will promote and maintain good health," she added.
According to the Deputy Minister, health literacy, which advocates equipping and empowering individuals and communities through the promotion of an inclusive model of governance and advocating healthy public and environmental policies, was a means to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 3 (SDGs).
Mrs. Mensah, therefore, encouraged health promotion officers of the newly created division to develop health promotion programmes to empower people and also strengthen individual and collective capacity to act for health and sustainable development.
The World Health Organization Country Representative for Ghana, Dr. Owen Kaluwa, emphasized that the health promotion service should have the capacity and mandate to influence policy not only in the health sector but other sectors as well.
This, he explained, was significant because most of the determinants were beyond the control of the health sector.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS