Scrap dealers at Agbogbloshie in Accra have benefited from a free health screening exercise organised by the Ministry of Health.
More than 40 medical doctors, specialists and nurses from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ridge Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Koforidua Regional Hospital attended to the scrap dealers with the help of eight mobile clinic vans.
The beneficiaries underwent dental, eye, ear, nose and throat examinations, among others.
Health officials also offered free medication and educated the scrap dealers on the importance of living healthily.
There are about 80,000 squatters including children and women plying their trade in scrap metals at Agbogbloshie.
The scrap business exposes them, especially the children, to electronic waste which is harmful to their health.
According to a recent study by the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, children at Agbogbloshie and other parts of the country, aged below seven, who are exposed to electronic waste, are likely to develop deficiencies such as low intelligence quotient (IQ), shorter attention span, learning disabilities, impaired physical growth and audio-visual impairment as a result of high lead blood levels.
Addressing the beneficiaries at the screening, the Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey, stated that despite the fact that scrap business was lucrative, it was necessary for the dealers to check their health frequently.
She called on the parents at Agbogbloshie not to involve their children in the scrap business but rather send them to school to secure a better future for them.
Intended to show care to the people of Agbogbloshie, the minister said the health outreach programmes would continue with more advocacy and sensitisation programmes in the community.
On behalf of the scrap dealers, the General Secretary of the Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association, Mr Mohammed Ali, said most of the dealers were ignorant of the side effects of the business. He therefore called for intensified education drive.
He expressed gratitude to the ministry for its initiative, adding that most people did not have the financial means to visit hospitals.
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