A respected cellular pathologist and lifestyle wellness consultant, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, emphasized the significance of consuming local Ghanaian foods to combat numerous communicable diseases, which currently top the list of health concerns and mortality causes in Ghana.
During a discussion on practical strategies to enhance public health in Ghana held at the Ghana Shippers Authority Hall in Ridge, Accra, on Tuesday, Professor Akosa, former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), highlighted the association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, fried foods, and processed foods with non-communicable diseases like hypertension, heart diseases, and diabetes.
He stressed the importance of health promotion and, along with health policy and management expert Professor Aaron Abuosi, served as the main speakers on the topic “Quality Health for All” at the recent edition of the Graphic National Dialogue Series.
Organized by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, this event serves as a platform for discussing developmental issues with an emphasis on achieving national consensus in a non-partisan setting.
Additionally, the aim is to compile ideas into a document to influence policymaking across various social strata. The upcoming Graphic National Development Series will feature a plenary session during which expert speakers will present papers on specific topics derived from various perspectives on the theme.
Watch a video of Prof Akosa’s presentation
Emphasizing the importance of consuming Ghanaian local foods, Prof. Akosa highlighted that prioritizing locally sourced foods over Western and fast foods could lower the incidence of non-communicable diseases in Ghana.
He noted that Ghanaians have shifted away from nutritious local foods to imported, highly processed options with elevated sugar content during processing.
“I will urge us all to go back to our former ways of eating kontomire or cocoyam leaves, garden eggs, okro, ‘abedru’, and all that keep us healthy and also minimise the dependence on the pizzas, noodles and fried foods,” he advised.