Among the important departments in the Ministry of Health is the “Health of Food Handlers” section in Sharq, which provides examinations and services to food handlers responsible for preparing or serving food – people who work in food establishments, campaigns, conferences, and several other categories of professions and deal directly with the public and so must obtain a health fitness certificate as a prerequisite for practicing this work, including people who work in beauty parlors, health institutes, and laundries.
With the lifting of Corona restrictions a large number of visitors have begun to flock to the Ministry of Health food handlers department in Sharq to complete transactions, and it is obvious the place is becoming crowded, reports a local Arabic daily.
This is a vital sector of the Ministry of Health because those who are required to produced the ‘FIT’ health certificate are those who are handling or work in establishment where foodstuffs are sold such as Hajj campaigns, conferences, and several other categories of professions and deal directly with the public and so must obtain a health fitness card as a prerequisite for practicing this work, including people who work in beauty parlors, health institutes, and laundries.
The daily organized a tour to the Food Handlers Health Department, affiliated to the Ministry of Health in the Sharq region, which was overcrowded with workers who had arrived early to conduct health tests while others had returned a few days later to collect their reports while the department’s employees spared no effort to speed up the registration and examination procedures, to ensure the smooth flow of entry and exit without any hassles.
During a tour of the department, the visitors stressed the need to establish additional centers to speed up the completion of their transactions as the number of visitors has increased following the decline im Corona infections and the lifting of restrictions related to its repercussions.
They pointed out the rest area available for the visitors does not accommodate everyone and there is severe crowding which makes life difficult especially that the summer had set in full force and many if them have to stand in queue for long under the sun, not to mention the heat, humidity and dust during May, June, July, August and September of each year.
The head of the department, Dr. Nozha Al-Najjar, defined its objectives, indicating that they lie in achieving food safety by limiting the spread of diseases that may be transmitted by contaminated food and hands, and limiting the spread of skin and respiratory diseases.
To achieve these goals, Al-Najjar told the daiily that this is done by conducting periodic laboratory examinations, virtual examination of the target groups by issuing a health fitness card for the healthy, giving typhoid, tetanus and hepatitis A vaccinations, preparing daily statistics for the department’s visitors, and monitoring diseases periodically.
With regard to the tests, she indicated during a single visit registration and blood test is done to ensure those who come for the test are free from the HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, free of bacteria and parasites and several other contagious diseases and then must visit the Q8Saha website or the “Easy” website without the need to check with the department again.
The test is valid for one year and is mandatory to check with the department to renew the medical certificate.
Al-Najjar indicated that the department has been provided with about 100 cameras to monitor the flow of work inside the departments and to monitor the movement of visitors’ entry and exit, within the framework of the ministry’s keenness to monitor work at its facilities and departments on a regular basis.
She spoke of the tendency to establish other departments to examine food handlers, within the new structural plan of the Ministry of Health such as in Shuwaikh, Fahaheel, Farwaniya, Jahra, Hawalli and Mubarak Al-Kabeer.
8 top goals of the MOH include:
1 – Achieving food safety in the community
2 – Stopping the spread of foodborne diseases
3 – Preventing skin and respiratory diseases
4 – Laboratory and virtual examination of the targets
5 – Typhoid, tetanus and “hepatic” vaccinations
6 – Preparing daily statistics for the department’s auditors
7 – Food awareness for workers and employers
8 – Periodic monitoring of viral diseases