Tema-Ghana, June 20, CDA Consult – In order to lower their chance of developing typhoid fever, Mr. Rocky Tettedzie, a Physician Assistant at the Pleasant Medical Centre in Ashaiman-Middle East, has given the general public advice to thoroughly wash their vegetables.

He went on to say that some vegetable growers have turned to planting close to drains and watering their crops with drain water because there aren’t enough irrigation facilities, which exposes consumers to a variety of illnesses.

This was stated by Mr. Tettedzie during the weekly “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! An effort of the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency aimed at encouraging health-related communication and creating a forum for the transmission of health information to impact individuals’ personal health decisions through better health literacy.

The public health advocacy platform “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility” was created by the Ghana News Agency’s Tema Regional Office to look at the elements of four different health communication strategies: informing, instructing, convincing, and promoting.

In response to a question about how to handle such vegetables to prevent consuming potentially contaminated vegetables that could cause typhoid, the Physician Assistant at Pleasant Medical Centre explained that typhoid-causing bacteria would mostly dwell on the vegetable, which effect could be reduced through proper washing before consumption.

He stated that clean water must first be used to wash the veggies, and that before touching the vegetables, the person cleaning them must wash their hands with soap under running water.

He went on to say that in order to achieve a thorough wash, salt or vinegar should also be applied, explaining that doing so would destroy the bacteria and stop typhoid fever from being transmitted to the person eating the vegetable.

Additionally, Mr. Tettedzie urged customers to pay attention to where they get their meals, saying they should feel confident doing so or, if possible, cook it at home and bring it with them to work.

Mr. Tettedzie discussed typhoid, a potentially fatal bacterial disease that can be transmitted either directly via contact with human carriers or indirectly through the consumption and drinking of contaminated food or water.

The disease, he continued, has symptoms that are comparable to those of malaria and other infections and has an incubation period of seven to twenty-one days, though some people may exhibit signs as soon as three days after being exposed due to the amount of germs in them.

Before beginning to take pharmaceuticals, the public was encouraged by the physician assistant to always go to the hospital for medical tests. The physician assistant explained that a condition like typhoid could only be accurately detected by such tests, which may include blood and stool cultures.

The Pleasant Medical Center’s Operations Manager, Mr. Aaron Mensah, advocated for proper handling and disposal of medical waste.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency in Tema, appealed for health awareness, especially in what “we eat, drink, and source; we must be conscious of unhealthy lifestyles and their implications and avoid them.”

Mr. Ameyibor also issued a warning regarding the rise in sedentary behaviours and inactivity that are connected to our modern way of life. New forms of transportation, sat work environments, and other innovations all suggest that we are less active.