Ensign Global College, ENA to publish study on public health impact of Akosombo dam spillage

A private and not-for-profit institution has disclosed upcoming detailed research into the public health consequences of the devastating flooding in parts of the Volta Region caused by spillage from the Akosombo Dam.

Ensign Global College says that being a public health institution, it has the expertise and personnel to scientifically research and publish findings that would adequately ascertain the impact of the disaster that affected thousands of residents and make beneficial recommendations.

The disaster was triggered by the release of excess water from the Akosombo Hydro-electric Dam.

According to a UNICEF report, the Akosombo dam spillage displaced an estimated 35,857 people, including women and children – who were the most affected.

The hardest hit towns in the Volta Region include Mepe, Battor, Sogakope Mafi, Adidome, and Ada, among others.

The research will use the Bakpa Awadiwoe-Kome community within the Adidome area as the focal point.

Shedding more light on the upcoming study, the Director of the Academic Program at Ensign Global College, Dr Stephen Manortey, said the disaster’s effect on the community’s vulnerable people would be a key objective.

“We also want to see the effect of the disaster on mental health, how people have been traumatized, and what could have been done to prevent some of these things even in the future. We want to focus on the health impact but will spread tentacles a little bit into other areas,” said Dr Manortey.

The study’s findings are expected to be published by the first week of March 2024, said Dr Manortey.

The revelation about the upcoming public health research was made when renowned NGO Engage Now Africa (ENA) collaborated with the institution to donate over GHC150,000 of relief items and food to victims of the spillage on Monday, December 18, 2023.

Country Director of ENA, Cecilia Amankwah, explained that the donation to the thousands of residents at Bakpa Awadiwoe-Kome and an island community in Ada was informed by ENA’s prior engagement with the communities through its adult literacy and skills training and Human Trafficking programs.

“Having a lot of our adult literacy and skills training participants here, we thought it wise to come here and see how they are faring and how they have been affected by the disaster. We hope this donation will ease the suffering of the women and their families a little bit,” said Cecilia Amankwah.

Items donated included bags of rice and beans, gari, maze, edible palm oil, detergents, mosquito nets, toiletries, sanitary pads, exercise books, pens, pencils, erasers, toilet rolls, and water purifying tablets.

The massive gallons of toiletries and edible palm oil donated at a short ceremony in Bakpa Awadiwoe-Kome and the island community in Ada were all produced by beneficiaries of the ENA’s skills training, which targets women and men.

Chief of Bakpa Awadiwoe-Kome, Torgbe Sakpiti V, who received the items on behalf of the community, thanked Engage Now Africa and Ensign Global College for their constant collaborative support of his people.

He also promised that the items donated would be appropriately distributed to the residents and their families.

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