Harare, 4 October 2005 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has pledged to continue to provide technical assistance for improved surveillance and food safety monitoring in Africa with a view to reducing ill health and deaths due to the consumption of contaminated food in the region.

The pledge was made Monday in Harare, Zimbabwe, by the Director of the Division of Healthy Environments and Sustainable Development at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Chris Mwikisa, in an address to the first FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Africa.

Dr Mwikisa explained the assistance would take the form of capacity building and the strengthening of public health laboratories to enable Member States carry out surveillance and monitoring activities “effectively and efficiently as components of the Regional and National Integrated Disease Surveillance.”

He added that WHO would also continue to provide support for the revision of food laws, implementation of Codex standards and the preparation of national action plans, among others.

Dr Mwikisa noted that although food is a source of energy and nutrition, it nevertheless acts as a vehicle for the transmission of a variety of disease-causing agents such as bacteria, parasites, viruses, fungal and other toxins.

He illustrated the point with the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases caused by the consumption of contaminated food and water, and is estimated at 3.3 to 4.1 episodes per child per year. In Africa, the total mortality due to diarrhoea is around 700,000 for all age groups.

In addition to death and ill health, food-borne diseases also have profound economic consequences, Dr Mwikisa said, pointing out that one African country lost up to US$36.9 million as a result of a ban, in 1997, of fish exports from that country to European Union markets.

On food security in the region, Dr Mwikisa said: “In many African countries, food still continues to be produced on a subsistence basis. As a result, Africa imports about 60% of its food supply. This represents a huge challenge, as it is especially difficult to monitor the safety of food grown and processed abroad”

These challenges make it critically important for countries to use resources effectively and efficiently, he added.

In his remarks, the Assistant Director General (Economic and Social Department) of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Mr. Hartwig de Haen, stated that despite the availability of advanced tools and approaches, there were still many challenges to improving food safety in the region.

He explained that the regional strategic plan of action to be considered by the conference envisaged measures to be taken at all levels – from legislation to inspection services and from surveillance to communication.

“The aim of the plan is to improve the safety of food consumed by Africans and also enable African exporters to better comply with standards existing in countries to which food is exported”, he said.

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