Dr. Peter Karim Ben Embarek, Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases, World Health Organization, presented the Keynote address at the International Symposium on Food Safety and Nutrition Communications, December 6, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Dr. Ben Embarek outlined the World Health Organization’s priorities regarding food safety and nutrition, highlighting key initiatives aimed at reducing incidences of food-borne and waterborne illness, at detecting and containing outbreaks of animal disease, and responding to and helping prevent intentional contamination of the food supply.
He also outlined measures to help ensure the safe preparation and handling of adult and infant food, and initiatives aimed at reducing the global incidence of malnutrition and stunting in children.
Partnerships and shared responsibility, both at international and national levels, are increasingly important. WHO strongly encourages greater linkages between stakeholders at different parts of the food chain. "The application of risk-based approaches, with a focus on results-oriented measures, requires a strong linkage between food control systems and foodborne disease surveillance." Stakeholders can help by providing information to assess the effectiveness of interventions.
Dr. Ben Embarek stressed the need to promote healthful diets and improve the nutritional status of the population through the life course, particularly among the vulnerable, and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals address eight key objectives that range from halving extreme poverty and hunger to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, all by the target date of 2015. Reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, promoting gender equality, ensuring environmental sustainability, achieving universal primary education and advancing a global partnership for development are the other key program elements.
Referring to obesity as "a growing epidemic affecting all countries," Dr. Ben Embarek summarized the central challenge of coming to agreement on recommendations tailored to different groups, and reaching and influencing those groups through effective communications, and using different instruments to affect consumption.
With a call for all stakeholders to work cooperatively in ensuring a healthful and a safe food supply, Dr. Ben Embarek concluded by urging participants to consider that our shared challenge is to understand consumers' perception of risks, to be a trusted source of information, and to be able to communicate about risks, including uncertainty, clearly and rapidly.
