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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance of listed Ghanaian companies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a longitudinal and cross-sectional data set of 20 sampled companies over a period of five years. The data were analyzed using a panel regression and ANOVA analysis to establish the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. Corporate governance is defined in terms of three indices – board structure, ownership structure and corporate control, while firm performance is measured by return on assets, return on equity, net profit margin and Tobin's Q.FindingsThe empirical results show that ownership concentration and female representation on board have a positive impact on performance. Although the results revealed no evidence to support the impact of board size and audit committee size on performance, there is significant evidence to support the fact that independent directors and audit committee frequency both adversely affect firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of this paper can be expanded to include non-listed firms. In addition, other corporate governance mechanisms could be considered to broaden the scope of the paper.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the scarce literature on corporate governance and firm performance in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper provides useful information that is of great value to policymakers, academics and other stakeholders.

Les maladies non transmissibles (MNT), comme les maladies du cœur, les accidents vasculaires cérébraux, le cancer et le diabète, sont de loin la première cause de mortalité au monde et représentent 60 % de tous les décès. La mauvaise alimentation et l'inactivité physique sont des facteurs de risque bien identifies de l'excès de poids et des principales MNT. En réponse à la croissance mondiale rapide du fardeau des MNT, le Plan d'action 2008–2013 pour la Stratégie mondiale de lutte contre les maladies non transmissibles et la Stratégie mondiale pour l'alimentation, l'exercice physique et la santé (SMAEPS) de 2004 ont été conçus et approuvés en tant qu'instruments clés de politique internationale. Dans le cadre des travaux de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) pour mettre en œuvre ces résolutions, on a conçu un cadre décrivant les principaux éléments de l'élaboration et de la mise en œuvre d'une politique scolaire nationale axée sur l'alimentation et l'activité physique. Ce cadre est incorporé dans la « trousse d'outils de mise en œuvre de la SMAEPS », et vise à guider les décideurs dans l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre de politiques faisant la promotion d'une saine alimentation et de l'activité physique en milieu scolaire par des changements dans l'environnement, les comportements et l'éducation. L'article décrit les principaux éléments du cadre et la façon dont cet outil est intégré aux activités de l'OMS pour fournir une orientation et des conseils, renforcer les capacités, formuler des recommandations fondées sur des données probantes et encourager l'action afin d'améliorer les pratiques alimentaires et accroître l'activité physique à l'échelle mondiale.

The recent publication of the 1994 OPCS survey of smoking among secondary school children confirmed that the Health of the Nation target for children's smoking (a reduction in regular smoking from 8% in 1988 to less than 6% in 1994) has not been achieved. In 1994, 12% of English schoolchildren aged 11-15 were regular smokers (as were 12% in Scotland, 9% in Wales, and 12.5% in Northern Ireland). In 1994 the government spent around 10 million pounds on initiatives to prevent smoking, but received around 8643 million pounds in tax receipts from tobacco sales, about 108 million pounds of which was tax receipts from the illegal sale of cigarettes to children under 16 years old. The tobacco industry spent an estimated 100 million pounds on promotional activities. Improving current trends in children's smoking by the year 2000 will require decisive action by the government. The government should legislate to ban tobacco advertising and should use the 108 million pounds taken each year in taxes from smoking children to fund smoking cessation and prevention initiatives.

Street vended foods have become part of life in this part of the world. These foods are sold mostly uncovered thereby exposing them to dust and other environmental hazards that could contaminate them. The study was aimed at evaluating microbial quality of Street Vended Guinea fowl Meat sold in Nkalagu in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State Nigeria. Guinea fowl meat samples were randomly purchased from three different hawkers or vendors in Nkalagu and transported to the lab for analysis. With the aid of swab stick, samples were collected from the purchased meat and dislodged in 10ml peptone water. 0.1ml of the sample was inoculated onto prepared media and incubated at 370C for 24hrs. Following standard identification protocol, six genera of bacteria viz Staphylococcus s.p, E. coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella sp., Salmonella sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were isolated. Physical observation revealed that the meat sellers were involved in unhygienic practices such as using of knives without sterilizing them; wearing of dirty aprons and clothes. From the foregoing, it is recommended that consumers of guinea fowl meat should endeavor to re-cook the meat before eating as they are already contaminated before purchase; there is need for public creating awareness on the best way to hawk this meat; regular monitoring of the street vended meat should be undertaken by the Local Government health authorities so as to checkmate the unhygienic practices.