By Ovat Abeng
To ensure that residents eat hygienic food and drink safe and potable water especially, in various healthcare facilities in Anambra State, stakeholders on food safety and hygiene, water, sanitation, and hygiene have been inaugurated in Awka.
Inaugurating the committee, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike said that Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration is passionate about food safety in the state, as his government is committed to ensuring that Ndi Anambra eat good and safe food that are not contaminated under any guise.
The Commissioner, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Obiageli Uchebo pointed out that food safety is one of the most significant issues in the state and Nigeria in general, as most people eat out on daily basis and charged the stakeholders to take their job seriously, even as he commended Governor Soludo for the ongoing provision of potable water in the state.
Giving an overview of the programme, the State Food Safety and Hygiene Coordinator, Dr Rose Amasiani said that the group was created in April 2021, and that the aim was to enhance the understanding of stakeholders on the importance and principles of domestication of food safety and hygiene programme in Anambra.
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Dr. Amasiani revealed that there are about six hundred million cases of food borne illnesses annually and about four hundred and twenty thousand food related deaths yearly, urging all hands to be on deck in championing the campaign of food safety, water, sanitation and hygiene.
The State Director of Public Health, Dr Afam Aneme noted that the campaign needs all the relevant stakeholders to key in and help to propagate the gospel of eating good and safe food, as well as drinking potable water in their various homes and hospitals.
Earlier in his address, the Anambra State Chairman of Food Vendors Association of Nigeria, Comrade Obi Madubugwu assured that they will do everything humanly possible to deliver on the mandate given to them by involving all the relevant stakeholders to sensitize and educate the citizenry.
Speaking on behalf of the Transition Committee Chairmen, the Transition Committee Chairman of Anambra East Local Government Area, Dr. Anslem Onuorah promised that they will give the association all the necessary support for them to excel, stressing the need for a robust and massive sensitization of the people.
The event, which was packaged by the Anambra State Ministry of Health in conjunction with the State Association of Food Vendors, attracted all the relevant stakeholders, representatives of the Ministry of Agricultural, Civil Society Organizations, among others.
