Elizabeth Mosima
6 October 2008
The declaration was made by the Minister of Public Health during a joint inter-ministerial meeting in Yaounde last Friday.
Dairy products in Cameroon have been declared safe. The Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda, made the declaration during an inter-ministerial meeting in Yaounde last Friday on melamine-contaminated milk.
Organised by the Ministry of Public health the meeting brought together representatives of the Ministries of Commerce, Scientific Research and Innovation, Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry, Industries, Mines and Technological Development, Centre Pasteur Laboratory, as well as representatives of international organisations. The purpose of last Friday's meeting was to enable stakeholders to exchange ideas and come out with recommendations that will assure Cameroonians of the quality of milk and other dairy products in the Cameroonian market. Actually, the problem of contaminated milk from China has been the major topic in the international media.
Opening the meeting, the Minister of Public Health said on the account of trade globalisation, it is urgent that appropriate action be taken to reassure the Cameroonian population. Representatives of partner ministries, Centre Pasteur Laboratory and partners from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO) made reassuring presentations, as well as provincial delegates of public health. According to the representative of the Ministry of Commerce, Akoa Zang, stringent measures have been taken by the ministry to ensure that consumers buy safe products. One of the measures taken by the Ministry of Commerce is to suspend the issuing of authorisation for importation for milk and all dairy products from Asia. Also the Minister of Commerce has given instructions to all provincial delegates to mobilise their control teams on the field. Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting the minister said no suspected cases have been reported in hospitals in Cameroon and no cases of contaminated milk have been detected.
The Minister said efforts are being made to prevent contaminated milk from entering the country. Minister Mama Fouda recommends the strengthening of health surveillance and called on young mothers to breastfeed their babies as much as possible. "They should give artificial milk only when necessary," he said.
Melamine-contaminated milk has intoxicated children in China. It is estimated that out of 6,300 children that consumed the milk, 1,300 especially new born babies fell sick and four of them have died.
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