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 Food Safety
Despite the extent of foodborne diseases, many
governments have no clearly articulated written policy on food safety, nor,
in several countries, is there any one authority with a clear FOS mandate as
the responsible authority. National Plans of Action for Nutrition (NPAN) are
said to have been drawn up by all the ten countries of the Region. In most of
these countries, however, such programmes are not yet seen as key policy
statements of relevance to food control authorities.
The reluctance to establish documented policies
and plans of action relevant to all participants in food safety is an
indication of the lack in awareness of consumers, politicians and governments
to recognize the true extent of the health and economic consequences of
foodborne diseases. Ineffective communication, lack of data on the real costs
of foodborne diseases, cultural habits, differing social values, traditions
and taboos, contribute to this state of the art. Variations in the degree of
law enforcement in different Member Countries are not only due to technical
and human impairments, but also to organized and rampant fraud.
WHO has
provided direction for the better integration of food safety policy through a
number of initiatives, promoting the concept of and mechanisms for an
intersectoral approach to issues related to food safety.
The 1998 SEARO Regional Consultation on Food
Safety (27-30 October 1998) formulated, as an outcome from its deliberations,
a 10-Point Regional Strategy for Food Safety in the South East Asia Region. The fundament for this work was the Declaration of
the 1992 International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) where WHO had
worked with national governments to achieve greater focus on the
action-oriented themes identified as key issues. Member Countries were surveyed in December 1999 to determine progress in the implementation of the 10-Point
Strategy.
The main challenges SEAR Governments face in developing and implementing
effective FOS strategies are, inter alia:
 National food legislation in many Member
Countries urgently needs updating and revision, effectively
taking into account Codex recommendations and the FAO/WHO
model food law.
An overarching food safety body at the
national level, consisting of representatives of all stakeholders should be
established to assure proper co-ordination of all food safety activities from
production to consumption.
A need to increase the involvement of all
stakeholders, the media and religious groups to expand the net to include
those from disadvantaged and underprivileged groups in the community
Shortcomings in existing capacity to cope with
statutory responsibilities in terms of regulatory testing and enforcement of
foods consumed in the country, including imported foods, and to meet new
challenges in this regard.
Lack of adequate databases on the incidence of
food borne diseases due to lack of
effective surveillance programmes,
including weak food testing laboratories
Collection of economic cost of food borne
disease outbreaks/other food safety issues such as export rejects would
assist policy makers to realise the economic
significance of the problem.
Reemphasis on educational/
training/communication from general hygiene/microbiology to chemical
contaminants and the newer technologies such as GMO food products.
Regional and national capacities for
establishing databases for food contaminant monitoring and foodborne disease
surveillance should be strengthened. National focal points for both
activities should be identified.
All Member States should review the
qualifications and training of inspectors within the context of national
needs and modern approaches, including HACCP.
All Member States should develop a broadly
based participative risk communication strategy to promote better knowledge,
attitudes and practices related to food safety issues.
The importance of research in identifying
priority foodborne hazards, particularly chemical contaminants, and devising
means for their prevention and control
Lack of adequate involvement of consumer
organizations, food industry associations, academic and research
institutions, in promoting awareness.
With the growth of the food processing
industries, responsibility of the Governments for monitoring products has
dramatically increased, well beyond their installed human, technical and
financial capacities.
Difficulties in acceptance of concepts like
GMP and HACCP at the level of the unorganized sector: food handlers/
retailers, small restaurants, grocery stores, street vendors.
Lack of a well defined policy relating to
education and training, creation of awareness and involvement of consumers
Chemical Safety
According to the World Health
Report 2002, environmental hazards are estimated to cause or to contribute to
the premature death of millions of people and result in the ill health or
disablement of millions more each year in countries of South East Asia
Region. Environmental changes -both
global and local- are having an increasing effect on health, particularly
that of poor and vulnerable populations. One quarter of the global
burden of disease is due to environmental health determinants. Children are more likely than adults to be
exposed to contaminated water and soil, polluted air in the home, and toxic
chemicals and are more vulnerable to the health effects of environmental
contaminants. These factors contribute to over 5 million deaths globally each
year among children.
The inadequate management of
thousands of industrial, agricultural and household chemicals often result in unnecessary exposure to toxic chemicals, and
sometimes in chemical incidents. Children who work from an early age in
cottage industries - such as the bangle industry or production of fire
crackers -are often exposed to toxic and hazardous chemicals that are widely
and unsafely used. Chronic exposure is
linked to damage to the nervous and immune systems and to effects on
reproductive function and development. Very little is done, so far, to
protect specially children’s environmental health in most SEAR countries
Less than 10% of the 1000
tons of health care waste that are produced daily in the SEA region, are disposed off safely. Unsafe management of
medical waste poses a series of life threatening risks- for all health
personnel and patients, and also to the general public. Consequently, many
used syringes and transfusion pipes reach rag pickers who siphon them off to
scrap dealers who get them recycled back into the market, often without
disinfection.
Air pollution, both indoor
and ambient, is a major health threat to children. Nearly 75% of the
population in the SEA Region cooks with biofuels.
An estimated 500,000 women and children die in India each
year due to indoor air pollution-related causes. Outdoor air pollution, mainly from traffic
and industrial processes, is a serious problem particularly in the
ever-expanding megacities of SEAR countries.
Globally, the number of
pesticide victims is estimated to be 3 million injured and 20.000 deaths.
Data for SEAR is incomplete. SEAR still lacks capacity to respond and to
prevent and manage poisonings: there are only 12 poison information centres in this region, where more than 25% of the
world’s population lives.
Further, very little is done
in terms of surveillance of health effects of chemical aetiology
such as then ones from chronic exposures to POP’s
and other persistent toxic substances. This situation is becoming more
critical with the increasing possibility of having to deal with mass
casualties from not only accidental, but also deliberate chemical, biological
and radionuclear incidents in the region
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