The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that 11 countries, including Bangladesh, account for about two-thirds of the global deaths linked to trans fat intake, calling upon these countries to take urgent action to avoid the deaths.
The 11 countries out of 15 with the most coronary heart disease deaths due to trans fats have yet to take actions to eliminate the substances, a WHO press release said.
Of these, four countries – Canada, Latvia, Slovenia and the United States – have implemented the WHO-recommended best-practice policies since 2017, either by setting mandatory limits for industrially produced trans fats to two percent of oils and fats in all foods or banning partially hydrogenated oils (PHO). But, the remaining 11 countries – Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan and Republic of Korea – still need to take urgent action, the WHO says. Two years into the WHO’s ambitious effort to eliminate industrially produced trans fats from the global food supply, the organisation reports that 58 countries so far have introduced laws that will protect 3.2 billion people from the harmful substance by the end of 2021. But more than 100 countries still need to take actions to remove these harmful substances from their food supplies. Consumption of industrially produced trans fats are estimated to cause around 500,000 deaths per year due to coronary heart disease. “In a time when the whole world is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, we must make every effort to protect people’s health. That must include taking all steps possible to prevent non-communicable diseases that can make them more susceptible to the coronavirus, and cause premature death,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Our goal of eliminating trans fats by 2023 must not be delayed,” he added. The WHO report highlights two encouraging trends. First, when countries do act, they overwhelmingly adopt best-practice policies rather than less restrictive ones. New policy measures passed and/or introduced in the past year in Brazil, Turkey and Nigeria all meet WHO’s criteria for best-practice policies.
Countries, such as India, that have previously implemented less restrictive measures, are now updating policies to align with the best practice.
Second, regional regulations that set standards for multiple countries are becoming increasingly popular, emerging as a promising strategy for accelerating progress towards global elimination by 2023. In 2019, the European Union passed a best-practice policy, and all 35 countries that are part of the WHO American Region/Pan American Health Organization unanimously approved a regional plan of action to eliminate industrially produced trans fats by 2025. Together, these two regional initiatives have the potential to protect an additional 1 billion people in more than 50 countries who were not previously protected by trans fat regulations.
“With the global economic downturn, more than ever, countries are looking for best buys in public health,” said Dr Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives. “Making food trans fat-free, saves lives and saves money, and, by preventing heart attacks, reduces the burden on health care facilities,” Frieden added.
