Guidelines on the Management of Healthy Markets

The Department of Health has recognized that bad hygiene practices in markets may have serious negative impacts on the health of the community, particularly with regard to potential outbreaks of contagious diseases such as Avian Influenza. Therefore, in order to reduce this risk the Minister for Health has issued Decision No. 519/MENKES/SK/VI/2008.

The basic premise of the Decision is to reduce the potential risks associated with an outbreak of disease. The Guidelines are contained in the Attachment to the Decision. The Decision has been in force since 6 June 2008.

Basically, a healthy market is one that is clean, safe, secure, and healthy. The Decision then goes on to list the benefits and the parties or stakeholders that will benefit from them. For example, a healthy market will provide the following benefits to a trader; increased sales, increased product quality, better economies of scale as there is less produce thrown away, increased job satisfaction, maintenance of the culture and traditions of the traditional market environment, among others.

The Decision sets out the policy and strategy considerations in achieving the desired outcome of healthy markets.

The Guidelines are comprehensive and deal with each aspect of a healthy market individually. These aspects include specifications for the trading floor, parking areas, wet and dry goods, construction, walls, floors, stairs, ventilation, and lighting, among others.

It is expected that the Decision will see an improvement in the quality of traditional markets and a simultaneous decline in the risk of an outbreak if infectious disease.