15 Die From Mass Food Poison

As the country marked the 26th National Farmers’ Day with a holiday last Friday, disturbing reports from the Upper East Region indicated that 15 persons had died from eating food poisoned with insecticides.

The deaths occurred in the Bawku West, Talensi-Nabdam and Garu Tempane districts of the region.

Reports of the unfortunate deaths were released in a letter from the regional health directorate on the causes of death and circulated to certain health facilities in the region.

However, the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council claimed later at a news conference that only 12 persons had died as a result of what they described as “misapplication of agro-chemicals or the use of fake agro-chemicals by some farmers to fertilise their crops in these areas.”

The coordinating council issued their report in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Owen Woyongo, also mentioned that 72 other cases of poisoning had been reported to the health authorities in the region, warning farmers not to use sub-standard agro-chemicals on their crops to prevent the recurrence of these tragedies.

He said a special taskforce had been set up to monitor and control the use of chemicals in the region, so as to avert any further calamity.

The taskforce will also educate residents of the affected districts and others to be careful in selecting their food item and to avoid consuming dead animals, since they can become victims of food poisoning.

According to the regional minister, a total of 72 cases were reported separately in the three affected districts, out of which 12 persons died.

Mr. Woyongo, who was not happy about the incident, assured that fake agro-chemical dealers would be arrested and flushed out of the market.

The Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Zenabu Wasai King, entreated residents of the region to be cautious of what they ate and make sure their food stuffs were thoroughly washed.

She advised farmers to read or seek information from any extension worker on the methods of applying agro-chemicals, especially when they were in doubt or dealing with agro-chemicals containing Endo-Sulphar.

Source: Daily Guide