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01.05.2012 General News

Food Vendors In Accra Screened

01.05.2012 LISTEN
By Daily Graphic

About 2,700 food vendors in Accra have been screened for early detection of typhoid, intestinal worms and other diseases to ensure that the vendors prepare food and sell food under hygienic conditions.

The exercise was jointly executed by the Korle-Bu Medical School, the Public Health Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and some accredited laboratories.

Vendors who passed the screening exercise were issued with certificates.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Environmental Health Technologist of the Accra Metropolitan Public Health Department, Mr Wisdom Aditse, said the medical screening was an important measure in checking the spread of diseases from food vendors to their patrons.

The number of food vendors in Accra is unknown.
Mr Aditse said the department had intensified its monitoring programme to ensure that people prepared and sold food under hygienic conditions.

Food vendors, no doubt, provide many Ghanaians with affordable meals, but the recent upsurge in cholera cases and the visible signs of unhygienic practices have prompted calls for the AMA to strictly enforce its bye-laws and ensure that Accra residents get value for money.

At least 17 people have been confirmed dead from cholera, while 640 more people have contracted the disease since the beginning of the year.

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