Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 6: Healthcare is by all counts a big worry not just for people across the world but also for governments. After all, how productive is your economy going to be if you have a large chunk of unhealthy citizens?
All the money in the world might buy loads of the good stuff – expensive homes, fast cars, great education for the kids and what not – but all of it is going to be quite pointless if one is having trouble telling his pills apart.
It is in this context that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified ‘From Farm to Plate, Make Food Safe’ as its theme for this year’s World Health Day which is to be celebrated Tuesday.
Healthy food is ‘the’ most essential prerequisite to a healthy body, and experts cannot stress this enough. Studies have shown that unsafe food contains harmful bacteria that can cause over 200 diseases ranging from diarrhoea to cancer.
WHO has undertaken a survey of food-borne diseases and has come up with some interesting results on enteric infections (related to or occurring in the intestines) caused by viruses, bacteria and protozoa that enter the body through ingestion of contaminated food.
An initial analysis of the report reveals there were an estimated 582 million cases of 22 different food-borne enteric diseases taking 3,51,000 lives every year.
According to the WHO report, nearly 40 per cent children under the age of five are currently suffering from such diseases in South-East Asian countries, including India.
“Efforts to prevent such emergencies can be strengthened, through joint collaboration of the public, government and other voluntary organisations. People should be choosy and selective regarding where they have their day-to-day meals,” said a health expert here.
At the consumer end of the food supply chain, the public plays an important role in promoting food safety, such as practising safe food hygiene and learning how to take precautions while cooking certain foods that may be hazardous (like raw chicken).
The WHO’s five keys to safer food, as shown in the table to the left, explain the basic principles that each individual should know to prevent food-borne diseases.
