Nigeria Loses $6 Billion to Food Contamination, Says FG
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The federal government has put the cost-of-illness of diarrhoea, attributable to food contamination, at about US$6 billion annually in productivity.
It said that the cost was calculated at about US$10 per case of diarrhoea.
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire who stated this during the launching of the training manual on National Policy on Food Safety & Its Implementation Strategy (NPFSIS), in Abuja on Tuesday said 31 hazard-causing foodborne diseases were responsible for over 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths worldwide.
He said: “In 2014, the World Bank’s “Safe Food Imperative” found that the cost-of-illness of diarrhoea, attributable to food contamination, is about US$10 per case, with Nigeria estimated to lose about US$6 billion annually in productivity which underscores why the health sector prioritises safety of foods sold, marketed, and consumed in Nigeria”.
Ehanire said in line with the United Nations Resolution on strengthening food safety, the Ministry of Health takes food safety, as a serious element of public health that requires concerted efforts.
According to the minister, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are among agencies and parastatals in the health sector, with the mandate to target reducing the burden of foodborne diseases.
He however said the health sector cannot do it alone; ” rather, food safety issues should be handled with a one-health approach, where collaboration with the agriculture and environment sectors are essential, to ensure we only consume safe and wholesome foods”..
The development of the Unified Training Manuals focused on the need for the micro, small and medium food processes to be trained on food safety management systems.
The categories of food handlers targeted for these trainings are:
Farmers; Food Processors; food service providers; Food regulators; and transporters, wholesalers, retailers and exporters of food & feed produce.
According to the Ministry of Health, the main objective is to build an effective food safety system in a bid to improve and maintain appropriate food safety practices that are in line with international best practices through human capacity development in Food Safety system along the food supply chain.
