Healthier Diets for Healthy Lives Project (HD4HL), in collaboration with the University of Ghana, the Ministry of Health, the FDA, and the National Development Planning Commission, has launched a major awareness campaign in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Capital.
The primary objective of this event was to educate the public about the risks associated with toxic food products in Ghana.
The awareness campaign took place yesterday, on Valentine’s Day, in the bustling business centres of Adum and Kejetia in Kumasi.
During an interview with the media, Mr James Mckeon Amoah, representing the Ghana Public Health Association, highlighted the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes and kidney diseases among Ghanaians. These health issues are primarily caused by the consumption of foods that are high in sugar and salt.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the HD4HL project was initiated to raise awareness and educate the public about the dangers of poisonous foods.
Mr Amoah emphasized that the HD4HL project aims to advocate for the implementation of policies that would eliminate hazardous food products from the market, ultimately leading to healthier lives for Ghanaians.
“So via this project, we’re looking forward to implementing some policies to scrap those food products from the system for Ghanaians to live healthy.
Through the policies, all imported foods would be thoroughly checked by the FDA to stop unverified food from entering the country.” James Amoah said.
He added that “the project is also seeking the implementation of fiscal-related policy. This will ensure that heavy taxes are put on food containing poisonous substances. Whereas those that have healthy food substances will have some sort of tax relief to ginger customers to patronize them.”
Madam Efuah Owusu Ansah, Principal Dietician at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) also said the government must strengthen the Policy on Food Labelling to regulate verified and unverified food in the system.
Source: Oyerepafmonline.com / Joseph Marfo
