Public health concerns
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Amirul Islam
The establishment of a modern slaughterhouses in Dhaka is long overdue. This project has been hanging in the balance for years. The city needs at least a dozen modern slaughterhouses to serve its 15 million people.
A modern slaughterhouse is what can ensure meat quality. The residents buy a lot of meat everyday. But much of it is poor quality. Sick cows, goats and sheep are slaughtered and sold without any check. Many ailments people suffer could be traced to consumption of unsafe meat. Only a proper medical survey can ascertain the magnitude of the problem.
Public health is threatened by many other sources also. Medical garbage calls for careful disposal. Potent carriers of germs, medical garbage, gets thrown on the roads or into overflowing dust bins.
Garbage dumps, kept in densely populated residential areas, pose serious public health risks. The dumps are the veritable sources of all sorts of infection to the nearby population. Poor maintenance makes the dumps all the more dangerous to public health.
The reported widespread use of formalin, a toxin for human corpse preservation, to keep fish, milk, vegetables and fruits in good condition to look at, only multiplies the risks to public health. Milk supplies brought to the city by boat also pose risks because milkman add polluted river waters to increase weight.
Unregulated use of pesticides and other chemicals make vegetable dangerous for the consumers. Carcinogenic substances in the chemicals cause allergies, intestinal and skin diseases and even cancer.
The establishment of a modern slaughterhouses in Dhaka is long overdue. This project has been hanging in the balance for years. The city needs at least a dozen modern slaughterhouses to serve its 15 million people.
A modern slaughterhouse is what can ensure meat quality. The residents buy a lot of meat everyday. But much of it is poor quality. Sick cows, goats and sheep are slaughtered and sold without any check. Many ailments people suffer could be traced to consumption of unsafe meat. Only a proper medical survey can ascertain the magnitude of the problem.
Public health is threatened by many other sources also. Medical garbage calls for careful disposal. Potent carriers of germs, medical garbage, gets thrown on the roads or into overflowing dust bins.
Garbage dumps, kept in densely populated residential areas, pose serious public health risks. The dumps are the veritable sources of all sorts of infection to the nearby population. Poor maintenance makes the dumps all the more dangerous to public health.
The reported widespread use of formalin, a toxin for human corpse preservation, to keep fish, milk, vegetables and fruits in good condition to look at, only multiplies the risks to public health. Milk supplies brought to the city by boat also pose risks because milkman add polluted river waters to increase weight.
Unregulated use of pesticides and other chemicals make vegetable dangerous for the consumers. Carcinogenic substances in the chemicals cause allergies, intestinal and skin diseases and even cancer.