Mineral Deficiencies Is A Public Health Challenge -FDA

Date published: December 18, 2013
 
By Mohammed Awal
The Deputy Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), in- charge of food, John Odamme Darkwa says that vitamin and mineral deficiencies continue to be a public health challenge in West Africa.

The situation, he noted, exacerbates as a result of increasing and volatile prices of staple foods, food insecurity, climate change and conflict.

Mr. Odamme-Darkwa made this disclosure at a two-day consensus meeting held in Accra yesterday, on the harmonization of regulation and standards with respect to food fortification in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region.

As part of multiple measures to revert the situation, a resolution by the Health Ministers of ECOWAS was passed to ensure that there was a mandatory micronutrient fortification of vegetable oil and wheat flour in all countries in the region at their 7 th Assembly in 2006.

According to him, the region has made significant progress in its quest to ensure the fortification of staple foods, however, regulatory enforcement systems to enforce compliance to regulatory standards are weak in most of the member states.

Mr. Odamme-Darkwa, therefore, called for provision of a harmonized standards and regulatory frameworks that would ensure free movement of fortified food staples.

Provision of such regulations, he noted, would facilitate intra-regional trade, thus strengthening the competiveness of local industries to increase output and coverage of micronutrient fortified staple food across the region.

In a speech delivered on his behalf, by Dr. Ajoku Kemji, a representative from ECOWAS, the ECOWAS commissioner of Trade, Customs, Industry and Mines and Free Movement of Persons and Goods, Mr. Ahmed Hamid said that the issue of food enrichment and fortification has been a critical one in the socio-economic development of ECOWAS.

According to Dr. Kemji, World Health Organization (WHO) report indicates that 'more than 2 billion people in the world today, suffer from micronutrient deficiencies caused largely by dietary deficiency of vitamins and minerals.'

In view of this he said, 'We cannot underscore the public health importance and implications of these deficiencies when viewed from the magnitude and health consequences, especially as they affect our most vulnerable groups including children and pregnant women.

'Therefore, overcoming micronutrient deficiencies is a precondition for ensuring rapid and appropriate national development.'

The meeting, he revealed, was very timely as it would offer 'us the impetus to align the ongoing programmes and activities in the area of harmonization of standards and regulatory framework on food fortification in the region with our regional quality policy and standards harmonization model.'

Mr. Hamid called for consensus building and collaborative partnership among member states to achieve this goal.

'The harmonization of standards in the ECOWAS region is driven by our desire to improve competiveness of products in the region, contributing better protection of our consumers and increase the share of West Africa to Continental and Global trade,' he stated.

  A statement read on   behalf of   the Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayitey by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Miss Salimata Abdul Salam said health care was not only about treating diseases but also about the physical environment adding that, a healthy population could only be achieved in improved environmental hygiene.