by Otere Ma'ambi, Brazzaville, December 1997
THEME = HEALTH
Is there any food hygiene now in Brazzaville?
After five months of war, the people of Brazzaville have lost the good manners they once had. The noise of cannon, bombs, automatic weapons and rocket-launchers, not to mention social, political and economic disruptions, have all conspired to erode the consciences of people, to the point where it is difficult for them to distinguish between good and evil, truth and falsehood, beauty and ugliness, cleanliness and dirt.
At any rate, the whole area of food hygiene proves the point. The many diseases which the majority of Brazzaville's citizens now suffer from, is simply the result of lack of hygiene in most of the food they eat. This lack of hygiene leads to some people getting richer and richer. Also, people don't seem to be interested in food-hygiene. Let's take a closer look at the problem.
Transport and sale of Food - Vehicles are used indiscriminately to transport both people and produce from the interior. Goats and cassava leaves, cassava and fuel etc. are all mixed together, plus the dust which covers everything. For example, in a vehicle carrying cassava leaves, passengers tread on the cassava without any thought for the health of the people who are going to eat it.
When the lorries reach Brazzaville, they have to be unloaded so that the produce can be taken to distribution points. The most common vehicle for this work is, as often as not, the hand cart. These hand carts, which may just have carried a load of household rubbish or been used as a hearse, are immediately used to carry merchandise - and nobody's bothered!
Once the produce arrives at the market, it's laid out anywhere until it is sold. Profit is the only thing people worry about whatever the quality of the goods sold, or the place in which they are exposed for sale. The stalls on which foodstuffs are displayed are never cleaned, and nobody bothers. The only reaction comes from Red Cross; Red Cross personnel have tried to clean things up by disinfecting the market areas. Meat, fish and other basic food items are left uncovered - thus permitting flies and other insects to feast on them. Result: typhoid fever has already appeared.
Use of colorants - Brazzaville's retailers have very fertile imaginations. Necessity becomes the mother of invention. To attract customers, palm oil sellers add colouring which is used in the manufacture of ice cream. This colorant turns the oil red, giving the impression that it is first class quality. When the housewife uses this oil, it causes diarrhoea in the whole family.
The colorant is also used to improve the appearance of smoked fish, which is already too old. People who eat this fish suffer unexplained stomach pains.
Failing all else, the people of Brazzaville fall back on sachets of frozen water to quench their thirst. The quality of this water and its packaging raises problems. Under what conditions was the water drawn? Where do the plastic bags come from? Were essential precautions taken? It would be rash to say that this water is quite O.K. to drink. The Red Cross has warned against water being drunk in this way, but nobody listens. As a result, amoebae and water borne diseases are daily becoming more common.
Medicines - The Press has attacked the homicidal conduct of some fellow citizens who sell medicines anywhere and anyhow, but nothing changes. Even if most of these products are not out of date, they are spoiled by exposure to the sun. These medicines no longer have curative effects and are slowly becoming poisonous. Unfortunately, most people in Brazzaville use them because they cannot afford to go to modern pharmacies.
Taking into account these few facts, we can only stress that the citizens' health depends on the quality of the food they eat. Families, schools, the Church, cultural or philanthropic associations should try to make the people aware of the consequences of lack of hygiene. The health services which at one time enjoyed the confidence of the people, should snap out of their torpor and contribute to the betterment of the daily lives of the people of Brazzaville.
END
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