An Assessment of Hygiene Practices and Health Status of Street-food Vendors in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Background: From 1993, civil servants in Cameroon were subjected to a new working schedule, according to which, work starts every working day from 7.30am to 3.30pm with a short lunch break from 12 noon to 1.00pm. However, this new regulation was not accompanied by effective measures such as the creation of formal eating houses or canteens to ensure the provision of services that could satisfy the food needs of workers. Consequently, there has been a development and concentration of informal food vendors around public offices. While street foods are an important source of ready-to-eat nutritious, low-cost meals for the urban poor, the health risk posed by such foods may outweigh their benefits.
Objective: This study aims at assessing personal hygiene and health status of vendors involved in informal sales of food in Yaoundé.
Methods: In this cross-sectional epidemiological design, 837 food vendors were investigated through medical examinations notably stools analysis for ova and cysts of parasites. Questionnaires were also administered to the vendors. The vendors were selected from within the three main places in the city where people congregate: schools, market places, and government ministries/office.
Results: The personal hygiene of a majority of street-food vendors in Yaoundé (87, 1%) is of low and this is reflected on their health status because among the 837 food vendors enrolled in the study, 379 were found infected with one or more faeco-orally transmissible parasites, a 45% prevalence rate.
Conclusion: There is the need to improve the personal hygiene of food vendors in Cameroon in order to reduce the prevalence of food-related diseases. This can be done through adequate sensitization programmes on personal and food hygiene and the development of food handling policies.