Food vendors undergo medical screening in Agona West
More than 1,600 food vendors had been medically screened in the Agona West municipality by the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department as at the end of 2013.
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The objective of the exercise was to help reduce food-related and water-borne diseases.
Some of the diseases diagnosed were typhoid, tuberculosis and shigellosis and the affected food vendors were referred to the Swedru Government Hospital for treatment before certificates were issued to them to operate their respective businesses.
This was disclosed by Mr Sampson Quaye Agbovitor, an environmental health officer of the department during the annual performance review of the municipal health directorate at Agona Swedru.
He stated that the department had resolved to continue with the exercise to help prevent the spread of diseases contracted through food and water.
According to him, his outfit will mount a vigorous campaign to ensure that the environments where cooked food is patronised by the public are kept clean and tidy to prevent diseases in the area.
On sanitation in the municipality, he appealed to chiefs to strengthen their bye-laws on communal labour to ensure that the exercise was done regularly to augment the efforts of the department to promote proper sanitation standards in the municipality.
Mr Agbovitor appealed to the government to resource the department with a vehicle to enhance effective inspection in the area, since the only vehicle used by the department was in a poor state and broke down almost every week.
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The Medical Superintendent of the Swedru Hospital, Dr Dzodzegbe Apertorgbor, commended the staff of the hospital for their dedication and commitment towards the reduction of maternal deaths and stillbirths.
He noted that the facility needed critical staff such as medical assistants and medical officers to help improve health care.
He appealed to the government to furnish the newly constructed accident and emergency centre to enable the facility to respond to such cases.
The Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Nii Adjei Adjetey, implored the health workers to offer the best of health care services to clients who visited health centres within the municipality.