The Punjab Food Authority has conducted as many as 47,671 medical screening tests of food handlers/workers among 4,017 people found ill during 2018. It was disclosed in annual report 2018 of PFA Medical Screening Lab.
PFA Director General Captain (R) Muhammad Usman said that the purpose of medical screening was to ensure the provision of safe and healthy food at ground level from safe hands. In this connection, PFA took the blood samples of more than 47,000 people among 343,654 workers were found cleared and remaining failed in the medical screening test. Out of the 4,017 screened people, 1689 people were suffering from Typhoid, 539 people from Tuberculosis (TB), 776 people from Hepatitis B virus (HCV) and 1022 people suffering from Hepatitis B virus (HBV). PFA also referred some cases of human immunodeficiency virus to concerned departments for further procedure.
Muhammad Usman said that PFA would not allow any sick worker to do directly participate in the preparation of food. PFA is ensuring the person is fit and not affected from any disease along with food is also disease free. He further said that it is compulsory for food workers to get a medical certificate from the Punjab Food Authority. He said that medical laboratories were established for food handlers/workers for their physical examination and medical test with an aim to ensure the presence of health workers in the food industry. PFA to be functional medical labels in all cities of Punjab by the end of 2019.