Ghana Medical Association urges ban on single‑use plastics to curb pollution and protect health

Professor Ernest Yorke, president of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), called on the government to extend the planned phase‑out of Styrofoam to cover all single‑use plastics. Speaking at the GMA’s 26th annual public lecture in Koforidua, he highlighted how plastic waste clogs drains, worsens flooding, and poses food‑safety risks across the entire food chain.

Yorke said an expanded ban would be an important environmental and public‑health intervention, provided affordable alternatives, improved waste‑collection, recycling, public education and stricter enforcement are in place. He urged the Environmental Protection Agency to act, noting the measure could reduce pollution, lower health‑care costs and improve urban cleanliness.