Conference Abstract | Volume 9 (ConfProc7): Abstract 113 | Published: 13 Oct 2026
Latif Gbadamashie1,&, George Akowuah2, Magdalene Odikro2, Samuel Oko Sackey2
1Kadjebi District Assembly, Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit, Kadjebi, Ghana, 2Ghana FELTP, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Latif Gbadamashie, Kadjebi District Assembly, Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit, Kadjebi, Ghana; Email: edwinsedor44@gmail.com
Received: 29 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 13 Oct 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
This is part of the Proceedings of the 8th Ghana FELTP Scientific Conference and FELTP Competency Graduation, Accra, Ghana, 10 – 11 December, 2025
Keywords: Food handlers, screening, Oti Region, typhoid, whitlow
©Latif Gbadamashie et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Latif Gbadamashie et al. Disease surveillance among food handlers: an analysis of the medical screening data, Oti Region – 2020 – 2024. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):113. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-00113
Foodborne infections cause 600 million illnesses and 420,000 fatalities globally. In Ghana, foodborne illness often stems from contamination caused by unsafe food handling practices in the supply chain. A Food handlers’ medical screening surveillance system was instituted in Oti Region to identify infectious illnesses in food handlers and assess their health status. This study aimed to determine the distribution of food handlers, common disease among food handlers and to describe the trend of screening in the region.
We conducted a descriptive analysis of a secondary data collected by the Environmental Health Units across Oti Region from 2020- 2024. The number of food handlers screened yearly coupled with the type of test conducted, sex, districts, and the number declared fit or unfit were collected using Microsoft excel template. Data were reviewed, cleaned and analyzed using Microsoft Excel to generate frequencies and proportions. QGIS was used for geographical analysis. Data were presented in graphs, maps and tables.
A total of 45,018 food handlers were screened in the region. Females dominated food handling, 86.2% (38,826/45,018). Typhoid was most common with, 8.1% (3,667/45,018). Other conditions included whitlow [0.2% (90/45,018)], hepatitis A [0.4% (185/45,018)], and hepatitis B [0.3% (147/45,018)] cases. Proportion of unfit food handlers declined from 11.1% (920/8,268) in 2020 to 7.6% (768/10,190) in 2024. Whereas Biakoye and Nkwanta South districts recorded the highest proportion of screenings of 19.7% (8,865) and 18.5% (8,343) respectively, Nkwanta South recorded the highest proportion of food handlers who were unfit 13.1% (1,096/8,343).
Females dominated food handling in Oti region. Typhoid was the most common disease among food handlers. Number of cases declined yearly as screening coverage increased. Although screening rate was high in Biakoye, unfit food handlers were highest in Nkwanta South. Strengthening monitoring and enforcement of mandatory screening, launching education campaigns and hygiene practices can improve screening outcomes.
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