By Albert Allotey
Accra, Dec. 4, GNA – A day’s workshop has been organised for journalists to build their capacity to create awareness on policies of food marketing regulation, food labeling, food-related fiscal policy, and public food procurement and service.
It was organised by the Coalition of Actors for Public Health Advocacy (CAPHA) in collaboration with the implementing partners of the Healthier Diets for Healthy Lives (HD4HL) Project.
The other partners are Ghana NCD Alliance (GhNCDA), Ghana Public Health Association (GPHA), Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND), Institute of Leadership and Development (INSLA), Green Africa Youth Organisation, and Songtaba.
The HD4HL Project seeks to build evidence and mobilize multi-stakeholder action towards a set of policies namely; food marketing regulation policy, food labeling policy, food-related fiscal policy, and public food procurement and service policy.
Dr Kasim Abdulai, Executive Director, Operations of the HD4HL Project, in an opening address said the workshop formed part of the advocacy strategy to garner the support of the media to help in creating awareness about the policies.
Ms Juliet A. Boateng of the GhNCDA in a presentation expressed the importance of food labeling and said it enabled citizens to get comprehensive information about foods; and helps consumers make informed choices while purchasing their foodstuffs.
She said almost every pre-packaged food in Ghana was labelled and expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Health and Food and Drugs Authority.
Ms Boateng however, stated that Ghana’s current food labelling practices were challenged with legibility, unfamiliar language, false indications, terminologies, limited consumer knowledge, unfavourable for the unlettered, and unfriendly to children, among others.
On marketing regulation policies, Dr Percival D. Agordoh, the Vice President of GAND said the World Health Organisation had been monitoring national alcohol marketing policies globally and found a consistent lack of restrictive policies over time, highlighting the need for action.
He stated that the polices helped to control and regulate various aspects of marketing, such as pricing, distribution methods, promotion, and product characteristics and the goal was to ensure fair and ethical practices in the marketplace and to protect consumers from exploitative or unfair marketing practices.
Dr Agordoh mentioned key components for marketing regulations such as the role of regulatory bodies, consumer protection laws (fair trade/false advertising law), data protection and privacy, standardization requirements/efforts, and enforcement mechanisms.
He said understanding and navigating marketing regulations policies was crucial for businesses engaged in global marketing activities and that it involved compliance with various regulations to ensure legal and ethical conduct, manage risks, and build and maintain trust with consumers and stakeholders. “The global marketing regulation landscape reflects the ongoing efforts to strike a balance between fostering international commerce and protecting the interests of consumers and businesses,” he stated.
Mr Suleman Yahya of INSLA who made a presentation on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Action Framework on Healthy Public Food Procurement and Services Policies said according to the WHO unhealthy diets including excess consumption of salt, sugars and bad fats killed around eight million people yearly.
He said the 2019 Ghana Healthy Food Environment Policy Index highlighted a need for food labelling and regulation of food products in Ghana.
Mr James Mckeown Amoah of GPHA who spoke on food-related fiscal policies said taxes were effective interventions in addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and that according to the WHO about 43 per cent of all deaths in Ghana were due to NCDs such as; heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cancer and respiratory disease.
He stated that it had been predicted that NCDs would become the leading cause of death in Africa by 2030.
GNA