President of the Paediatric Society of Ghana, Dr Hilda Mantebea Boye, has warned that the growing scale of environmental pollution in Ghana poses an existential threat to children and future generations.
Speaking on GTV’s breakfast show, Dr Boye said: “The water I get from my taps is not as clear or colourless as it should be. If as adults we are this worried, then our children, who have their entire lifetime to endure the effects of bad water, bad air, bad land, and bad food, are at even greater risk.”
She explained that pollution affects almost every organ of the human body, with children increasingly vulnerable to kidney failure, liver disease, asthma, skin cancers, and even neurological damage. Reports, she added, have also confirmed heavy metal contamination in placentas and rising cases of birth defects.
On the drivers of galamsey (illegal mining), Dr Boye noted that unemployment and poverty are pushing young people into dangerous mining, while farmers are being bullied into selling their lands.
“But if food contamination worsens, people will begin to ask where their food comes from, and farmers may also abandon farming altogether to join galamsey,” she cautioned.
Calling for urgent government action, Dr Boye insisted that water bodies must be protected at all costs.
“Polluting water is equivalent to a war crime, it poisons people. Mining activities should be tightly regulated, if not paused completely, until Ghana can determine a safe way forward,” she stressed.
She also highlighted the social fallout, warning that illegal mining is fuelling armed violence.
“We are moving from war crimes to actual war,” she said.
For parents, Dr Boye advised that protecting children begins at home by teaching them not to litter, separating plastics from organic waste, gardening, and planting trees. While households cannot filter out all chemicals from tap water, she explained, reducing plastic waste in gutters and seas will help protect food sources and reduce microplastics in fish.
“If we decide now, recovery will take 20 to 30 years, but it is still possible. If we wait, the destruction will be worse. A few people may enrich themselves, but all of us, and especially our children, will suffer the consequences,” Dr Boye concluded.
