UNB, Dhaka :
Over 150 million people fall sick and 175,000 die every year after consuming contaminated and unsafe food in the WHO South-East Asia Region, including Bangladesh.
Three in 10 children, under the age of five years, suffer from diarrhoea which is a major childhood killer in the region, according to a WHO media statement.
These statistics from WHO’s first-ever report on the estimated burden of food-borne disease underscores the need for taking immediate measures to make food safety a public health priority.
The region accounts for over half of the global infections and deaths due to typhoid fever or hepatitis A. food-borne diseases account for a significant proportion of the burden of disease in the region.
Food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and chemicals are the main causes of food-borne diseases. Consumption of unsafe food causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea as an immediate effect, and has more serious long-term implications such as cancer, failure of kidney and liver and brain and neural disorders.
Food-borne diseases are most dangerous to young children, pregnant women and older people. In addition to the serious health impact, food-borne diseases present a major cost to economies, says the statement.
The risk of food-borne diseases is the highest in the low and middle-income settings where hygiene, safe water for preparing food, and adequate food production and storage conditions remain a challenge. This is further compounded by insufficient food safety legislation or its enforcement.
WHO said, all food operators and consumers should understand the roles they must play to protect their health and that of the wider community and the food safety systems should ensure that food producers and suppliers, along the entire food chain, operate responsibly and supply safe food to consumers.
Over 150 million people fall sick and 175,000 die every year after consuming contaminated and unsafe food in the WHO South-East Asia Region, including Bangladesh.
Three in 10 children, under the age of five years, suffer from diarrhoea which is a major childhood killer in the region, according to a WHO media statement.
These statistics from WHO’s first-ever report on the estimated burden of food-borne disease underscores the need for taking immediate measures to make food safety a public health priority.
The region accounts for over half of the global infections and deaths due to typhoid fever or hepatitis A. food-borne diseases account for a significant proportion of the burden of disease in the region.
Food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and chemicals are the main causes of food-borne diseases. Consumption of unsafe food causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea as an immediate effect, and has more serious long-term implications such as cancer, failure of kidney and liver and brain and neural disorders.
Food-borne diseases are most dangerous to young children, pregnant women and older people. In addition to the serious health impact, food-borne diseases present a major cost to economies, says the statement.
The risk of food-borne diseases is the highest in the low and middle-income settings where hygiene, safe water for preparing food, and adequate food production and storage conditions remain a challenge. This is further compounded by insufficient food safety legislation or its enforcement.
WHO said, all food operators and consumers should understand the roles they must play to protect their health and that of the wider community and the food safety systems should ensure that food producers and suppliers, along the entire food chain, operate responsibly and supply safe food to consumers.
