According to Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, renowned cellular pathologist and lifestyle wellness consultant, communal eating from one bowl can contribute to the spread of Hepatitis B. When people consume soupy foods like fufu, omo tuo or tuo zaafi together from the same bowl, they inadvertently exchange saliva. This behaviour can facilitate the transmission of Hepatitis B if an infected person is part of the group.
Hepatitis B is a serious viral infection that affects the liver. It’s essential to be aware of preventive measures, especially when it comes to communal dining practices. His explanation is that people put their hands in their mouths, and dip them in the soup and by such behaviour, they can mix saliva with the soup and if they have Hepatitis B, they can spread it.
Akosa was leading a discussion on practical ideas intended to improve quality health in Ghana at the Ghana Shippers Authority Hall at Ridge in Accra on Tuesday(27 May). The former director-general of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) was sharing ideas on healthy foods and lifestyle to help prevent diseases.
“Once upon a time, we were all together, participating as a group, eating together, doing everything as a group… It was later on that I, Prof Akosa, realized that this is how we spread Hepatitis B. We didn’t know that. We were all eating fufu, and by the time you finish, you are ingesting saliva.”
“I mean five, six of you, you are doing omo tuo or you are doing fufu, what do you think you are doing, you are going in like that and then you come in, by the time you are ending you are drinking saliva, it is the easiest way to spread hepatitis B, he said.
Akosa who was leading a discussion on practical ideas intended to improve quality health in Ghana was sharing his thoughts together with a health policy and management expert, Prof Aaron Abuosi.
The two prominent professionals were the main speakers on “Quality Health for All” at the latest edition of the Graphic National Dialogue Series. The event, designed and being organised by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, is a forum for discussing development issues with a focus on national consensus in a non-partisan environment.
It is also to collate ideas into a document to shape policymaking at different levels of the social strata. The latest of the Graphic National Development Series will have a plenary session where the expert speakers will deliver papers on specific topics derived from different perspectives of the theme.
By: Fred Dzakpata
