Accra, Feb. 25, GNA – The Government has been called upon to resource the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to establish a laboratory to enable it to conduct tests in foods to help eliminate Trans-Fatty Acids (TFAs) to save the citizenry from cardiovascular diseases.
The call was made by political party representatives at a consultative meeting on TFA elimination in Ghana organised the Institute of Leadership and Development (INSLA), a non-profit civil society organisation, in Accra.
It was aimed to bring to the fore the World Health Organisation (WHO) REPLACE Technical Package towards the global elimination of TFAs by 2023 and for the political parties to put TFA elimination on the national agenda.
The parties represented were the All People’s Congress (APC), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Progressive People Party (PPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Ghana Union Movement (GUM).
They noted that Ghana’s failure to make progress in the implementation of the package was due to the lack of the facility in the country to conduct test in foods to produce data on the health effects of the TFAs to assist stakeholders to formulate specific regulations and policy to protect the people.
“The establishment of the laboratory would go a long way to protect the citizenry from cardiovascular diseases and deaths while helping the government to save money,” they said.
Dr Phyllis Addo, a Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Health and Allied Sciences and a resource person, said generally, there was low awareness and knowledge about TFAs and poor understanding of their association with diseases like cancers, diabetes and hypertension.
She, therefore, called for the sensitisation of Ghanaians on TFAs and their implications on health, adding; “This form of intervention is well recognised and recommended by the WHO.”
“Elsewhere, it has been shown that high consumer and political awareness regarding the negative health implications of TFAs have led to influencing policy actions,” she stated.
Dr Addo noted that it is obvious the entry point for TFAs into the Ghanaian diet and that even more disturbing is the current dietary trend in Ghana, saying, “The last few years has witnessed an invasion of fast-food outlets in the country.
“The arrival of fast-food is accompanied with influx of highly processed meats and carbohydrates, high levels of salt and fats, thus contributing to unhealthy dietary habit and consequently obesity and its comorbidities.”
She said a research study she led revealed that while majority of Ghanaians may know about healthy fats such as omega-3 or omega-6, and unhealthy fats like saturated fats, however, only few people in Ghana, especially in the Accra Metropolis have ever heard of trans-fats.
“A total of (302/398: 76 per cent) respondents had never heard or read about TFAs as at the time of the study in 2018 and of the few participants (24 per cent) who knew about TFAs, less than half knew of the link between intakes of TFAs and diseases like cancers, diabetes and hypertension,” she stated.
Dr Addo said in fighting towards “Trans Fat Free Ghana” there was the need for all stakeholders to come on board to support the development and implementation of policy actions needed, to protect the citizens from the harmful effect of dietary TFAs.
Mr Issah Ali, the Project Manager of INSLA who took participants through the WHO REPLACE Package, said the package falls within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals ‘2’, ‘3’ and ‘12’.
Goal ‘2’ (Zero Hunger) states that; “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” and this is to ensure that everyone everywhere had enough good-quality food to lead a health life.
The Goal ‘3’ (Good Health and Well-being) is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, which is to ensure health and well-being for all, including a bold commitment to address diseases by 2030.
The Goal ‘12’ (Responsible Consumption and Production) states that; “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”, which focuses on increasing resource efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles.
Mr Ali said the REPLACE stood for Review, Promote, Legislate, Assess, Create and Enforce and through these the WHO had urged countries to adopt the six strategic actions to help eliminate TFAs.
Accordingly, the 2020 WHO Report on Global Trans Fat Elimination, Ghana is still at the national commitment stage, which is ‘Red’ while other countries had made progress to ‘yellow’ and ‘green’ on the chat.
Mr Benjamin Anabila, the Director of INSLA, in a welcoming address told the political party representatives that it was very important to engage them for the purposes of policy making and education of their members and followers on TFA.
“As political parties, you need healthy members and healthy citizens to promote your agenda and sustain our democracy respectively. Preventing and reducing heart disease and stroke is a shared responsibility and the time to act is now,” he said.
Mr Anabila expressed gratitude to their external partners the (Vital Strategies, Resolve To Save Life/LINKS), the Ministry of Health, Food and Drugs Authority, the Ghana Health Service, National Health Insurance Authority, and the WHO for their support.
GNA