Ensure food vendors undergo mandatory health screening - FDA urged

Mr Alagskomah Asakeya Noble, a Principal Pharmacy Technologist, has urged the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), and other stakeholders to ensure that food sellers undergo mandatory health screening to safeguard the life and safety of the public.

A statement he issued in Bolgatanga and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the safety of consumers would be at stake if the health status of food vendors, bar keepers and other staff of the hospitality industry are not monitored.

He called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to as a matter of urgency ensure that all institutions of learning, particularly basic schools, adhere strictly to hand washing, preferably, with soap. This, he said prevents infection.

The statement asked Ghana Health Service and the assemblies, to improve access to good sanitation as a major step towards reducing the impact of diseases.

It called on the MMDAs to prevail upon health-care facilities to adopt safe disposal of human waste, as an essential environmental health measure to contribute to the reduction of the transmission of health-care associated infections, which affects five per cent to 30 per cent of patients.

The statement noted that the Millennium Development Goal target on Sanitation is lagging behind schedule, and said civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media have a shared responsibility in making sure the objectives are achieved.

It appealed to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to impress upon the MMDAs, to contract the Hydro-Department of the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited, to develop a drainage master plan for them to avert the outbreak of cholera and other waterborne diseases as the rains have begun while flooding is eminent.

It urged the MMDAs to enforce the sanitation by-laws whilst the Ghana Health Service, and CSOs intensify their educational campaigns on sanitation

“Contamination is a major cause of diarrhoea, the second biggest killer of children in developing countries, Ghana inclusive; and leads to other major diseases such as cholera, typhoid, schistosomiasis and trachoma. This can be prevented,” the statement said.