The Director of Public Health at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Florence Kuukyi, has cautioned over the worsening sanitation crisis in Accra, warning that the growing levels of filth are now a major threat to public health and air quality.

She revealed that more than 28,000 people die every year in Ghana due to air pollution — the equivalent of one life lost every 19 minutes.

Describing the situation as “disheartening,” Ms Kuukyi said the combination of poor waste disposal, open defecation, and unregulated burning of refuse was fueling outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and typhoid while poisoning the very air residents breathe.

“This is leading to several diseases, not just diarrhoea and typhoid. It also has an impact on the air you breathe.

"Studies have it that in Ghana, over 28,000 people die prematurely due to air pollution. This means that in every 19 minutes, somebody dies due to air pollution,” she said.

The AMA Public Health Director stressed that sanitation must be treated as a shared national responsibility, not one to be dumped on government alone.

“Sanitation in the country is a collective and collaborative effort. Everyone has a role to play when it comes to sanitation issues.

"In Ghana, we are practising the ‘pollutant pay’ system — the persons who generate the waste must pay for it to be disposed of. That is where the issues come in.

"People generate waste and do not want to take on that responsibility, and they want to push everything on the government,” she explained.

Ms Kuukyi urged residents to take personal responsibility for the waste they generate and work with city authorities to keep Accra clean and healthy.

She warned that without urgent action, sanitation-related deaths and pollution will continue to rise, undermining public health and the capital’s liveability.