Let us get our children tested

I am writing this piece in relation to the recent revelations that some pupils on the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) have been fed with some unwholesome food items.

It has been a very worrying issue for me ever since these revelations were made. It has been worrying because I do know that the wrong food in the tummy can cause various problems for the body.

This may not always happen immediately after the food is eaten but the real effect may show up some months or even years after the eating.

I have therefore been very frightened for my two children who are benefiting from the programme.

My fears were raised higher when I read from the Ghanaian Times of 8th May 2008, the report from the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) to the effect that 90,692 people died in this country in 2006 from eating contaminated food.

I have also read (Daily Graphic 8th May 2008) the call by some four persons, petitioning the CHRAJ to investigate the management and affairs of the programme since they believe the breaches of their duties, have led to a threat on the life and health of citizens of Ghana.

In as much as such calls may be important, what is more important is the health of the children. Nobody knows what the bad food item may gradually be doing in their bodies, only to show up some day when it may be too late to do anything about it.

So, I am strongly calling for a test on all the children who have eaten that food to satisfy us parents that no ill has started developing in them. I think the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should take up the cost of parents having to take their children through these tests.

A stitch in time saves nine. [email protected]