On Thursday, 19th October, 2023, a one-day seminar was held in the municipality for food/drink handlers. The seminar was held at the community Center (the Old Assembly block), Effiduase and it started at 9:00 am. Participants were carefully selected from the various zones in the Municipality for the seminar.
The theme for the seminar was “Breaking the Chain of Food Contamination Through Medical Screening’. Facilitators of the seminar were the Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Daniel Darku, Principal Environmental Health Officer, Joyce Appiah and supported by Chief Environmental Health Officer, Mr Jones Asare.
Among the topics discussed were;
- Environmental Sanitation around business establishments
- Hand washing practices
- The need for regular medical examination
- Food preservation practices
- Pests control
Outcome of the Seminar
- The seminar enabled participants to ask very important questions bothering on their businesses as well as food securities and sanitation.
- The participants understood the need to regularly undergo medical screening to protect their health and that of their clients.
- They all attested to the fact that the seminar has broaden their scope of understanding to food hygiene and safety.
Conclusion/Recommendation
The seminar was a very successful one and expectation of the participants were met regarding the topics treated.
It is therefore recommended that, more training programs should be held regularly to improve the knowledge of food/drink handlers in the Municipality in helping to eradicate food borne diseases and also to ensure food safety.
MEDICAL SCREENING
Screening Food/Drink Handlers annually is one of the core mandate the Unit conducts for all people in food/drinks industry operating within the municipality.
The 2023 medical screening exercise started on November 20th and ended on 15th December 2023. All the Zonal Areas (Effiduase, Asokore, Oyoko, Akwadum and Jumapo) of the Municipality were covered during the exercise. the
After the medical screening exercise, a two (2) week mop up exercise was conducted for food vendors who refused to take part in the screening exercise, and ceasing of their foods were made to force them to take part in the exercise. Any vendor who tested positive to typhoid was referred to the hospital for further examination and treatment after which their withheld cards were released to them. In all a total of one thousand five hundred and twenty food and drink handlers were screened.
Tab7: Table of breakdown data from the medical screen of food/drink handlers
| ZONAL COUNCILS |
PERIOD |
NUMBER OF MALE FOOD VENDORS | NUMBER OF FEMALE FOOD VENDORS | TOTAL NUMBER OF FOOD VENDORS | FOOD HANDLERS WHO TESTED POSIITVE |
| EFFIDUASE | 20th-24th November | 55 | 559 | 614 | 14 |
| ASOKORE | 27th29th November | 37 | 317 | 354 | 21 |
| OYOKO | 4th-6th December | 5 | 363 | 368 | 2 |
| JUMAPO/
SUSHEN/ KOFIKROM/MPAEM |
7th-11th December | 1 | 79 | 79 | 0 |
| AKWADUM | 12th -14th December | 3 | 101 | 104 | 21 |
| TOTAL | 101 | 1,419 | 1,520 | 58 | |
SLAUGHTER SLAB
The Environmental Health Unit carried its mandate in the slaughter slab by ensuring that cows slaughtered at the slaughter slab located at Asokore undergo proper postmortem inspection. This is to ensure that beef coming from the slaughter slab are wholesome human consumption.
Common diseases that are usually detected are liver flukes, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), edematous lymph nodes, tissue necroses, abscesses, cysticercus bovis (beef measles), hydatid cyst, parasitic bronchitis (lungworm) etc. Most of the conditions are localized not generalized.
Tab.8 Number of cows slaughtered monthly
| MONTHS | COWS SLAUGHTER |
| JANUARY | 19 |
| FEBUARY | 31 |
| MARCH | 30 |
| APRIL | 29 |
| MAY | 31 |
| JUNE | 23 |
| JULY | 18 |
| AUGUST | 19 |
| SEPTEMBER | 21 |
| OCTOBER | 27 |
| NOVEMBER | 25 |
| DECEMBER | 32 |
| Total | 305 |
N/B: Expected revenue from the laughter slab was four thousand five hundred and seventy-five Ghana cedis (GHC4,995.00).