The Chief Director of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Mr. David Yakubu, has advised people in the region to tackle environmental sanitation issues with seriousness to promote good health for their children. According to him, poor environmental sanitation has contributed to the death of many children in the region and efforts must be made to reduce sanitation related diseases in order to save them from dying prematurely. Mr. Yakubu was addressing participants on Monday after a clean up exercise at the Wa Lorry Park to mark this year’s National Children’s Day celebration. He said apart from premature deaths, about GHC 8.6 million was spent on the treatment of sanitation-related diseases such as malaria, acute respiratory infections and diarrhea reported at health facilities in the region last year. “This strained the finances of the various Mutual Health Insurance Schemes”, he stated. Mr. Yakubu urged parents to teach their children to practice good sanitation so they would grow up being conscious of their environment to secure a healthy life for themselves. Madam Annacleta Naab, Upper West Regional Director of Department of Children Affairs, called on NGOs to assist in promoting the welfare of children. Madam Naab said children are a very important segment of the population and should, therefore, be involved in the development agenda.Source: GNA