A Medical Officer at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr Peter Paul Akagwire, has underscored the need for city authorities in the Tamale Metropolis to sanitise the commercial nail cutting business in the area.
He said the practice was unhygienic since the same instrument was used to serve many customers without adequate disinfection or sterilisation and thereby exposing customers to diseases such as HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B and C and other skin infections.
Dr Akagwire made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tamale.
He called for sensitisation of the public on health hazards associated with the practice.
He advised members of the public to consider patronising nail cutting and filing services from professionals, who were more cautious and trained to guarantee their health needs and safety.
Commercial nail filing or nail cutting, which is mostly carried out by some foreign nationals including Nigeriens, is gradually becoming a viable option of shaping, and keeping nails for many residents in cities.
The activity involves the trimming of one’s finger and toe nails with sharp objects like knives, scissors and some solution developed from powdered soap to soften the nails.
The nail cutters often move from one location to the other, including shops, homes, offices, and other business centres in search of their clients.
The GNA observed that some of the nail filers charged clients between GHc4 and GHc5 and made GHc100.00 on a good business day.
Meanwhile, some traders at the Tamale Central Market, in an interview with GNA, expressed worry over the activities of nail filers and said they invaded their privacy.
A leader at the market, who pleaded anonymity, said “Some of them portray themselves as nail cutters but they come along with sex enhancing pills to sell to their clients.”
He called on authorities to monitor and regulate their activities to ensure that the safety of the public was not compromised.
SOURCE: GNA