Interim data about threats from food-borne disease should be more rapidly and broadly disseminated via the Internet, while clear and simple messages about those threats must become the norm, according to a World Health Organization gathering.
Precise information on the burden of food-borne disease will help policy-makers to allocate resources effectively to the design and implementation of prevention and control measures, says the meeting report of the WHO Initiative to Estimate the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases. More than 30 stakeholders representing international and nongovernmental organizations, consumer groups and industry attended the Foodborne Disease Stakeholder Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 20, 2008.
Poor countries stand to benefit most from the initiative, as their high levels of food-borne-related illness and death serve as “a major obstacle” to development efforts, adds the report, Increasing Impact Through Collaboration.
Stakeholders also declared that the generation of data is not enough and asked the WHO to “not just perform analysis of the data but also make policy recommendations as this will ensure a nonbiased and balanced view.”
The WHO’s Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases launched the initiative in September 2006 to estimate death and disability due to food-borne diseases, focusing on microbial, parasitic and chemical causes. Meeting participants also deemed the 5-year term of the initiative to be overly “short.”