Cameroon joined the rest of the international community yesterday April 7, 2015 to commemorate world health day.

The theme for this year’s event was quite significant, giving the disturbing situation created by the quality of food consumed by Cameroonians. The issue this year was about food quality and the way it impacts on health. Quite topical indeed because of a growing phenomenon in Cameroon where very little attention is being paid to the quality of food.

A cursory picture of a heavy-traffic situation in any of our city centres gives a good idea of how grave the situation is. It is not unusual for a cab driver on his steering wheel to order for a sandwich being pushed around in an unprotected platform with flies hovering around the place. The same can be said of water which is sold around go-slow areas, usually in small plastic bags or bottles without any regard for the source of such water.

Then there is the case of market women who sit next to garbage dumps selling exposed food, some of which is easily or immediately consumable such as fruits or vegetables. No one really seems particularly worried about the situation. Rather the attitude of citizens towards this decried situation leaves no doubt that they are virtual accomplices to the situation and, therefore, bringing to naught all the novel public policies aimed at promoting a healthy environment and promoting best practices in the handling of food destined for human consumption.

Citizens must understand that it is their health which the public authorities are out to protect and must, therefore show understanding. Moreover, by promoting unhygienic habits, citizens expose themselves to diseases and in a context of growing poverty they compromise an already precarious financial situation because the final cost of these irresponsible acts can have far-reaching financial implications.

It is always a personal choice, even if generally uninformed, to decide to buy one’s medication by the way side or to buy food or drinks without any regard for quality. So, the consequences of such decisions are self-inflicted. The attainment of good health through the quality of food we consume is a personal decision such as ensuring quality either by buyers or sellers is supposed to be everybody’s concern.