The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, has described Ghanaian youth as showing a lack of responsibility for their health. This remark comes amid a rising incidence of cases among young individuals requiring dialysis.
While Sam George acknowledges that not all individuals may bear direct responsibility for their health issues, he condemns the widespread neglect of adopting safe and healthy lifestyles among the youth.
“I am not a fan of hospitals, but my wife has insisted you need to get yourself checked at the year, mid-year… just to be sure everything is intact. We all just need to take care of ourselves, and I have been talking about it, especially with this dialysis thing, you know, and I am saying that, when you look at people reporting with kidney failures, it is young people. It is more and more young people. And it’s because we… look, I’m going to say something that Ghanaian youth will not be very happy about, but we are very irresponsible when it comes to our healthcare and our life choices,” Sam George said in an interview on Joy News’ AM Show.
Sam George specifically pointed out some unhealthy behaviours among the youth today. “They are smoking like locomotive engines. They have dumped cigarettes and have jumped on that killer called shisha. You drive around Accra, East Legon and you see young people puffing off steam like locomotive engines, all in the name of fashion. They’ve flavoured death for you in pineapple, watermelon, whatever, and you are licking death,” he stated.
“We are not eating well, alcohol, for a country of just 33 million people, we have almost 100 different types of bitters. All kinds of concoctions in the name of aphrodisiacs. We are drinking the wrong things, eating the wrong things, and smoking our lungs into oblivion. We need to check our life choices as a country. It is a problem; it is a pandemic!” He further expressed.
Expanding his concern to fellow lawmakers, Sam George cited the recent loss of Philip Atta Basoah, the Member of Parliament for Kumawu in the Ashanti Region, as a cautionary tale. He believes that stress played a significant role in Basoah’s sudden passing, which he linked to an extended parliamentary meeting the two had attended the night before Basoah’s death.
To mitigate such risks, Sam George urged not only the public but also lawmakers, who often engage in lengthy parliamentary debates, to make regular check-ups and health assessments a priority.
“Recently we lost a member of parliament, Hon. Basoah, may his soul rest in peace. It was stress-related. We need to manage this, especially for members of parliament who sit for hours on end,” he added.
Sam George’s comments underline the urgent need for a renewed focus on public health and responsible lifestyle choices among Ghana’s youth.