Ghana Medical Association demands ban on single-use plastics to protect public health

The event, dubbed: "Food Safety in Contemporary Ghana: Public Health Concerns for the Consumer which focus on Food Safety”, was attended by medical practitioners, heads of departments and agencies, religious leaders, staff of the security services, students from senior high schools, traditional rulers and members of the public.

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has called on the government to ban single-use plastics in addition to the ban on styrofoam products used in packaging foods to protect the environment and sustain the health of the public.

Yorke explained that contamination might occur long before food reached the consumer, and that poor agricultural practices, unsafe irrigation water, indiscriminate use of chemicals, inadequate storage, interrupted cold chains, poor hygiene during transportation, and unsafe food handling increased the risk of microbial and chemical contamination which had been associated with Ghana and many other low and middle-income countries.