Though some may consider the theme for this year’s World Food Safety Day (WFSD), “Safer Food, Better Health”, obvious, few persons know that an estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year. And startlingly, children under 5 years old carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year, according to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO).
The United Nations established World Food Safety Day in 2018 to raise awareness about food safety.
Observed on June 7, World Food Safety Day initiatives are held to highlight how to prevent foodborne illnesses, caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances that enter the body through contaminated food or water. However, to tackle this issue, better data is needed to understand the far-reaching impacts of unsafe food and document the capacity of Caribbean countries to respond to, and in turn, develop climate-resilient food safety plans.
To this end, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is currently, as part of the PAHO coordinated
EU/CARIFORUM Strengthening Climate Resilient Health Systems in the Caribbean project, conducting a
Climate Risks and Food Safety Baseline Assessment.
“While the body of evidence is slowly growing on an international scale, work on climate change and food
safety risks have not been well documented in the Caribbean Region, nor has the Caribbean’s ability to
respond to climate-driven outbreak events been assessed. With a scarcity of information, the Caribbean
will continue to remain vulnerable to the effects of climate change on food safety and security,” underscored
Dr Joy St. John, Executive Director at CARPHA.
This country assessment exercise seeks to determine the resilience of food/water safety and health and
agriculture-related sectors in response to the effects of climate change in CARIFORUM countries. Assessments of past national food safety plans have shown limited incorporation of climate resilience, however, CARPHA and PAHO through this project will be reviewing and revising these plans with countries, factoring in climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Some of its objectives are to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities in the surveillance and outbreak
investigation of food-borne diseases and food/water borne hazards related to climate/weather events;
identify reservoirs for food and water-borne disease pathogens; and, to assess the capacity for
implementing climate integrated food-borne disease early warning systems.
Out of a participating 10 countries, the majority have developed national food safety plans and country
officials recognize the effects of climate change on national and regional food safety and security, as well
as the increased future risks. Within the health sector, emphasis will be placed on strengthening surveillance
systems, including enhancing laboratory capacity for the detection of food-borne diseases.
Climate change events such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts are also exerting pressure on food
production systems in the Caribbean, making countries highly dependent on food imports and volatile
prices.
According to Center Director, of the Pan American Center for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Veterinary
Public Health (PANAFTOSA), Dr Ottorino Cosivi, “Caribbean countries are particularly vulnerable to
emerging diseases derived from climate change events. There is a delicate balance between the health of
people, the health of animals, and ecosystems. If the balance is broken, public health can be affected. There
is an increasing need to build climate-resilient food systems under the One Health approach to ensure food
safety along the food value chain and improve productivity in a sustainable manner,” Dr. Cosivi outlined.
Improving hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors also helps to reduce the emergence and
spread of antimicrobial resistance along the food chain and in the environment. Dr Renata Clarke, FAO
Sub-Regional Coordinator underlined that the current focus of Caribbean Heads of State on a regional
approach to food security should extend to food safety.
“Food cannot flow efficiently among the countries if there is no mutual confidence in the systems of food
safety control applied by industry and national regulators within each jurisdiction. An ongoing FAO project
is enabling countries to carry out systematic assessments of their food control systems that allow countries
to recognize areas of weakness and to plan effectively to address them. It promotes transparency, trust,
and ultimately streamlines controls that make trade easier without compromising food safety. The spirit of
World Food Safety Day is to bring home the message that ‘food safety is everyone’s business. It is not just
about what governments and industries can do. There is much that consumers must do as well” Dr Clarke
emphasized.
She noted that food systems are dynamic, and this makes food safety dynamic: “There needs to be constant
vigilance to ensure that our food safety system is keeping pace with changes provoked by climate change,
by technology, and by changing lifestyles.”
The Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) is CARICOM’s inter-governmental
agency, mandated to coordinate and organize actions to enhance, strengthen and harmonize the regional
sanitary and phytosanitary mechanisms.
“Food is a basic human right; no single country can solve existing or emerging food safety challenges. The
solution: all countries must work together to put food safety measures in place. We must move as one,
united together with one goal; to provide safer food and better health,” stated Dr. Suzan McLennon-Miguel,
CAHFSA’s Food Safety Specialist.
She called on all stakeholders and consumers to become educated on food safety. Additionally, she
commended the FAO, PAHO/WHO, and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for providing
scientific food safety guidelines, imperative for better health. “CAHFSA stands ready to work with these
organizations and other Caribbean regional partners to guide and strengthen each country to harmonize
its food safety systems,” Dr McLennon-Miguel concluded.
CONTACT: Lisa Bayley – ba*******@pa**.org, PAHO/WHO Office of the Subregional Program Coordination (Caribbean)
About the Pan American Health Organization: The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) works with the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of its population. Founded in 1902, it is the world’s oldest international public health agency. It serves as the Regional Office of WHO for the Americas and is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American system.
The PAHO Subregional Program is responsible for providing subregional technical cooperation and to strengthen PAHO’s engagement with the Caribbean Subregional integration mechanisms, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its various bodies and organs; and to build synergistic partnerships with the subregional institutions such as the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), among others. PAHO’s subregional technical cooperation specifically focuses on public health issues which would benefit from economies of scale and for which agreement on proposed collective responses and actions would produce a far greater impact rather than individual country responses. The Subregional Program also plays a role in coordinating among the different PAHO country offices.