By Alexander Nyarko Yeboah, GNA
Tema, Oct. 24, GNA – The Head of Community
Development Unit of the Social Welfare and Community Development of the Tema
Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), has asked the public to demand food handler’s
certificates from food vendors before patronizing them.
Ms. Theresa Anafi says, “It’s expected that
most food handlers pass the food handler’s test by the TMA and the Food and
Drugs Board (FGB) to be cleared of certain contagious diseases or poor sanitary
conditions before they give the person that certificate.”
She said this on Wednesday during a durbar at
the Manheam Methodist Basic School to educate school children on the need to
wash their hands with soap and running water in commemoration of the Global Day
of hand washing.
She observed that, even though it was the duty
of the assembly and FDB to check those who operated food joints for strict
adherence to hygienic standards, “Food joints sometimes spring up at places we
may not see and that’s why the public must help.”
She pleaded with government and other
stakeholders to make funds and facilities available to enable children wash
their hands at school as a prerequisite for healthy living.
She said they chose Tema Newtown for the
campaign because it had a lot of sanitation issues with very poor conditions in
certain parts of the community and therefore there was the need to do more
education in the community.
The Head Teacher of the Manheam Methodist
Basic School, Mr. Michael Mensah Annang, stressed the need to incorporate
hygiene studies in “our school curricular as a way of changing the mindset of
the populace” concerning healthy living.
He observed that the rate at which the pupils
got sick which robbed them of quality learning time and their parents’
resources was alarming and that could easily be checked if they were taught how
to imbibe basic hygiene in their lives.
The Head teacher of St. Johns Methodist
School, Mr. Joseph Kobina Ennison, the second school they visited, in
appreciating the campaign, observed that education had not gone well with the
Newtown community which meant that it would take more effort to be able
re-orient them.
He prayed that the TMA would do more
sensitization programmes to help adults in the community embrace hygienic
practices for the younger ones would follow suit.
As part of the demonstration, the children
were taught how to wash their hands including in between fingers, under nails
and palms by washing under running water and soap any time before meals and
after visiting the toilet.
GNA