Mozambique’s health ministry is planning to implement legislation that would prohibit vendors from selling food on the streets in major cities in order to curb the outbreak of diseases, Vista News reported on Thursday.
Health Ministry spokesperson, Martinho Dgedge, was quoted in media reports on Wednesday as saying the ministry was still working with its partners in the drafting of the legislation.
”We have to create binding legal devices in order to implement practical actions.
”Without these legal dispositions we will have some difficulties in implementing the legislation,” he said.
The legislation would be implemented in the country’s major cities of Maputo, Beira and Nampula, according to Dgedge.
”Once the legislation is approved we will work with the authorities from municipalities and department of industry and commerce in order to stamp out this practice which presents a great danger to public health,” he said.
Types of food sold on Maputo’s streets range from fruits to meat dishes, some of which are sold in unhygienic conditions.
The vending of food on the streets was debated at a recent conference convened by the ministry and participants agreed that it was contributing to the increase of water borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.
On January 2004, the Health Ministry declared a national cholera emergency after 15 237 cases and 85 deaths were reported in three months.
Maputo was the most affected city with 9 522 cases and 37 deaths. – Sapa