World Health Day 2015: Food safety highlighted

Cameroonians have joined the international community this 7th April 2015 to celebrate the World Health Day.

This year’s celebration is being commemorated with focus on Food Safety under the theme, “From Farm to Plate, Make Food safe.”

Prior to the day, the Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) organised a roundtable discussion on 6th April 2015 to sensitise producers and traders on food safety from warehouse to consumers.

During the roundtable, a WHO Official, Etienne Kembou indicated that statistics reveal that close to two million people, especially children, die yearly due to contaminated food. He also emphasised that contaminated food is the cause of over 200 diseases ranging from diarrhoea to cancer.

In order to cushion the effects of food contamination, the WHO experts sensitised producers and traders on hygiene and sanitation measures to uphold when cultivating and selling food stuffs.

The experts also went to some markets downtown Yaounde and entreated protein and fruit vendors to be cautious while handling food, reiterating that food safety is a shared responsibility.

The World Health Day is a yearly event which provides an opportunity for world leaders and the public to unite and combat emerging health issues. The yearly themes selected are centred on health challenges with global impact.

The day marks the founding of the World Health Organisation in 1948.