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Studies on Public Health and Hygiene Condition of Retailers at Fish Markets in South-central Bangladesh

Dr. Fatima Haque Shikha
Professor
Department of Fisheries Technology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Bangladesh is a fish producing country from the ancient history due to its deltaic nature agro-ecologically. Accordingly fish marketing systems developed in traditional systems since long. This study was conducted in two retail fish markets located in Rajbari and Barisal Sadar Upazila in the south central region of Bangladesh focusing public health and hygiene condition of retailers. The questionnaire interview with 30 retailers and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools were used to get the information from the retailers and other value chain stakeholders. About 13% of the retailers had no education, however 60% had primary level and 27% had secondary level of education. Although many of them were literate, their knowledge and practice about public health, hygiene and sanitation was found to be very poor. Due to lack of knowledge on public health, they were found to be infected by various contagious diseases such as common cold (cough, coryza etc.), diarrhoea, lesion (lesion on hands, between fingers, on the tip of the fingers, between toes, on the nail and tip of the toes etc.) and skin disease. About 57% of them were affected with lesion on hands, while 33, 23, 7, 13 and 10% were affected with lesion between fingers, between toes, on the tip fingers, on the nail and tip of toes and skin disease on legs, respectively.Fish markets operated by them were ill-managed, unhygienic and unscientific. So, the hygiene and sanitation system of retail fish markets were very poor and unhealthy. Market should have adequate water supply, toilets and other sanitation facilities. Due to poor infrastructural facilities in harvest and post-harvest, landing, handling, preservation, distribution, marketing and quality assurance, the fish retailers suffered from serious health problems. Good personal hygiene management is therefore essential for the safe handling and preparation of fish and fisheries products. To ensure this, quick and proper action should be needed by the government, particularly by the local government and rural development (LGRD) authorities.

Keywords: Public health, Hygiene, Retailers, Markets

Location: Barisal and Rajbari

Start Date: 00-00-2011

End Date: 00-00-2012

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Fish

Objectives:

To understand various issues of public health being faced by the fish retailers and to assess the potential measures to be taken to develop public health situation of fish retailers in selected areas of Bangladesh.

Methodology:

The study was based on market survey obtaining information through a sample survey of the fish retailers during the period 2011-2012. The survey was done in two fish retail markets located in the south-central region of Barisal and Rajbari Districts viz. Barisal Sadar and Rajbari Sadar markets. The south-central region is very important due to the availability of fish and a large number of fish retailers are engaged in fish marketing system. For this reason, two south-central districts of Bangladesh were selected for the research, which have been shown in Map 1 using GIS. A total of 30 fish retailers were selected for questionnaire interviews in two different markets (Barisal Sadar = 20 retailers; and Rajbari Sadar =10 retailers). To collect relevant data the interview technique i.e., primary data were collected directly from the fish retailers by the first author himself using structured questionnaire and Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools. In order to get a complete picture of the present status of public health and hygiene and to fulfill the objectives of the study, the questionnaire was pre-tested before survey with the retailers. Several visits were made to the study area to collect data and related information relating to the objectives of the study. After each visit, the collected data were checked for accuracy and clarity. For the study, a combination of questionnaire interviews, PRA such as focus group discussion (FGD) with key informants was used for data collection. The diseases found in the retailers were identified properly with the help of a local MBBS doctor and accordingly, disease occurrences were recorded during questionnaire testing. A simple random sampling method was followed for selection of 30 fish retailers of the south-central region in Bangladesh. In this study, FGD was used to get an overview of particular issues such as health problem, sanitation and hygiene condition etc. A total of five FGDs sessions were conducted in the fish market where each group of FGD was of 4 to 6 fish retailers. The collected data were summarized and processed for analysis. Tabular technique was applied for the analysis of data by using simple statistical tools like averages and percentages. For data processing and analysis purpose, MS Excel and MS word were used. Tables, pie-charts and bar diagrams have been used to perform descriptive statistical analysis of data.

Source of Information: J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 12(2): 411–408, 2014, ISSN 1810-3030

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

A large number of people are involved in the production and marketing of fish that made the markets very unhygienic.To improve and develop the marketing channel, physical marketing facilities should be improved to make the whole marketing system hygienic. Proper hygiene has to be maintained in the fish handling areas for prevention of contamination and loss of quality of fish. Hygienic measures help in preventing or reducing fish spoilage, contamination and microbial growth. The Department of Public Health under the ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) should take quick and proper action for maintaining the sanitation system and to improve the hygienic condition of retail fish market.

Knowledge Management: Journal