Routine medical examination of food vendors in secondary schools in Ilorin.

Street vended food is expanding in developing countries, but the safety of the food provided is doubtful. Hence there is need for this trade to be regulated. One of the common ways of regulating them in the developing countries is through medical examination of food vendors, which some international agencies have condemned because of its inefficiency in controlling food contamination and food borne diseases. This study was done to determine medical examination practices among the food vendors and to see whether the practice ensures food safety. A cross-sectional study of 185 food vendors in 58 secondary schools within the study area was conducted using a structured questionnaire and a checklist. 141 (76.2%) respondents had medical test done prior to [not readable: see text] employment. The medical examination was requested for usually by the principals (51.9%), schoolteachers (37.8%) and the school clinic staffs [not readable: see text]). The test carried out on these vendors are physical examination, stool and urine examinations for parasites. Periodic medical examination among the vendors are low with only 30 (21.3%) of the 141 vendors having undergone periodic examinations. Majority of the respondents (77.5%) did not report to the school authorities or present at the school clinics when ill. Lack of fund and non-compulsion of medical examination by the school authorities were some of the reasons given by the respondents for not undergoing medical test. Present practice of medical examination among the food vendors is not enough to ensure food safety. There is need to improve on this practice, if the policy of routine medical examination for food vendors is to be useful in controlling food borne diseases.