Prioritizing Workplace Health Promotion Policy to Address High Blood Pressure and Obesity in a Public University in the Northern Region of Ghana

The International Labour Organization (ILO) recommends the engagement of the world of work in providing comprehensive and effective prevention strategy for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Workers are at risk of developing 1 or more cases of NCDs due to their exposure to risk factors at work. The ILO suggests that the work-related risk factors can be prevented by improving working conditions and integration of workplace health promotion programs. Workplace health promotion policies promote workers general health, improve working environment, work practices, and reduces the risks of common NCDs including hypertension (high blood pressure) and obesity among employees. A number of studies have described the increasing trends of hypertension and obesity among civil servants but are limited in assessing the availability and effectiveness of workplace health promotion policies to address them. We assessed the availability and effectiveness of workplace health promotion policy to address the prevalence of high blood pressure in a public university in the Northern Region of Ghana. Using a mixed method study design, 191 administrative staff were recruited and in-depth qualitative interviews conducted among 5 key informants. The study found significant number of participants with elevated and high blood pressure and overweight and obesity with no functional workplace health promotion at the time of the study. We therefore recommend the prioritization and development of a workplace health policy to reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure and obesity among staff of the university using the integrative workplace health promotion model.

Community participation in the eradication of guinea worm disease

As Guinea worm eradication programmes have got under way in endemic countries over the last decade, there has been a shift towards more participatory methods. The approach to surveillance has changed from periodic cross-sectional surveys to monthly village-based reporting of cases by a volunteer village health worker. At the same time, the emphasis regarding control interventions has moved from the provision of safe water supplies to health education. The new approach has proved very effective. The village health volunteers who carry out both surveillance and health education seem to be motivated largely by the social status of their role; still more commitment will be required of them in the final stages of eradication. It is to be hoped that the networks of village health workers established for Guinea worm eradication will find a useful role in health promotion after the worms have gone.