Health and Wellness Expert at Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult), Mrs. Beatrice Kayi Gbesemete, has called on Ghanaians to become more attentive to early warning signs of illness, stressing that most health complications are preceded by symptoms that people often overlook.
“There is nothing like sudden ill-health or sudden death apart from accidents, as every day our body parts communicate to us,” she said. “But most often we ignore or pay no attention to these signals, which results in major health issues, then we claim it was a sudden ill-health.”
Mrs. Gbesemete made the call during the weekly CDA Consult health awareness initiative dubbed “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility!” — a public education platform designed to promote healthy living through improved health literacy.
“Let us make the issues of health our topmost priority, let us pay attention to what we eat and drink, and let us listen to the body when it speaks to us,” she emphasised.
Highlighting the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, she noted that poor lifestyle choices were a significant contributing factor. She said adopting a balanced diet, increasing physical activity, and reducing stress were all crucial steps in mitigating the threat of NCDs.
Mrs. Gbesemete, who is also a Sapphire Director at LivePure, a US-based health and wellness company, encouraged regular exercise and healthy eating habits as powerful tools for disease prevention. She also advised Ghanaians to engage in stress-reducing activities such as meditation and mindfulness to support mental health and emotional resilience.
“A healthier lifestyle will lead to improved mental health, reduced stress, enhanced general mood, improved productivity, creativity, and overall quality of life,” she said.
She urged the public to treat wellness as a daily responsibility and not an afterthought, emphasising that lifestyle change must become a national culture.
In support of this call, CDA Consult Executive Director Mr. Francis Ameyibor warned about the dangers of sedentary lifestyles, describing them as a growing public health crisis.
“Our current way of life—modes of transportation, sitting at work for long hours, and our general inactivity—has become a major contributor to lifestyle-related illnesses,” he said.
Mr. Ameyibor said the platform “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility!” explores the four pillars of effective health communication—informing, instructing, convincing, and promoting—as part of the larger Holistic Health Information Change Paradigm Advocacy project.
He said CDA Consult is also advancing a nationwide campaign to tackle cervical cancer, advocating for the scale-up of HPV vaccination and improved access to screening and treatment services. According to him, despite WHO’s ambitious 2020 strategy to eliminate cervical cancer, funding and action remain insufficient.
“CDA Consult and its partners have launched a relentless campaign to draw both national and global attention to the need for urgency in achieving the 2030 elimination target,” Mr. Ameyibor added.
He concluded by urging the public and policymakers to invest more in preventive health strategies and take personal responsibility for health-related decisions to ensure a healthier and more productive Ghana.
