•Says It’s Responsible For Epidemics Of Sudden
Deaths
Chioma Umeha
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has attributed
epidemics of sudden deaths associated with heart attacks to consumption of
industrially produced Trans-Fatty Acids (TFAs) are toxic chemicals.
The apex body of medical doctors therefore called
for the elimination of industrially produced Trans-Fatty Acids (TFAs) from
Nigeria’s food supply by banning Partially Hydrogenated Oils or setting strict
limits on TFAs in food in line with international best practices.
According to NMA, sudden deaths is traceable to
CVD have continuously swollen the epidemic proportions and figures of NCDs
around the globe and in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, CVD accounts for seven per cent of
deaths annually, with NCDs as a whole causing 24 per cent of total deaths. One
diet-related factor that contributes heavily to the incidence of CVD is
industrially-produced TFA. Industrially-produced TFA is a toxic chemical that
increases the risk of heart attack and death, causing 540,000 deaths annually
across the globe. This is Nigeria’s chance to deal significantly with an easily
preventable risk factor for CVD.
In a press statement signed and made available to
DAILY INDEPENDENT Tuesday in Lagos, by Dr Francis Faduyile and Olumuyiwa
Odusote, the President and Secretary-General respectively, stated that many
countries have demonstrated that eliminating industrially produced TFAs alone
can reverse the epidemic proportions of CVD and lower the overall mortality
indices of NCDs.
The statement noted that the need to urgently and
totally eliminate industrially produced TFAs in all products in the Nigeria
food supply cannot be overstressed.
It further said that doing otherwise will mean
consequent endorsement of the deaths of more than 18 million people each year
from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), despite the availability of effective,
inexpensive, and safe prevention and treatment.
The elimination of TFAs has been shown to have
substantial health benefits. Several countries have already instituted TFA
policies and seen positive results. Prior to the elimination of
industrially-produced TFA in Denmark, the CVD mortality rate was 441.5 deaths
per 100,000 people. Following the implementation of the ban in 2004, the CVD
mortality rate has fallen to 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people.
“Evidence shows that industrially-produced TFAs
can be eliminated from food supply chains with little to no disruption to the
public or to the food industry.
“Industrially-produced TFAs can be replaced with
healthier alternatives without altering taste or increasing cost.”
NMA therefore encouraged NAFDAC to take this
opportunity to eliminate industrially-produced TFAs from all products in the
Nigerian food supply chain by strengthening the Draft 2018 Fats & Oils
Regulation Policy by banning partially hydrogenated oils in the Nigerian food
supply chain – including all domestic and imported products that already
include industrially-produced TFAs.
According to the statement, “Doing so will not
only save lives, bring health benefits to Nigerian citizens, but also showcase
the Agency as a responsive institution of Government that is alive to its
responsibilities. It will also be a showpiece of Nigeria’s leadership in public
health decision making for the rest of the world especially in the developing
regions.
It would be recalled the World Health Organisation
(WHO) called on countries to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids
(TFAs) from the global food supply, and released an action package called
REPLACE that includes policy recommendations and interventions for governments
to pursue.
“Backed by scientific evidence and examples of
successful TFAs regulation in different countries, the WHO recommends one of
two policy pathways.
First is banning the use of partially hydrogenated
oils, the source of industrially produced TFAs, in all foods or setting limits
on the amount of industrially-produced TFAs to no more than two per cent of the
total fat content in all foods.
“It will be recalled that NAFDAC had duly begun
the process of reviewing the 2005 Fats & Oils Regulation and has published
the Draft 2018 edition of the Fats & Oils Regulation.
“The agency had asked the Nigerian public for contributory
memos to enrich the process and content of the review efforts that will produce
the 2018 Fats & Oils Regulation in Nigeria.”
NMA however commended this timely effort of the
agency which aligns with the global efforts and paradigm shift to narrow the
spectrum of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases which have continued to
swell the epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) around the globe by
eliminating industrially produced TFAs from all food supplies.
NMA recognises this as an important step forward
in improving the diets and health outcomes of Nigerians and a turning point for
Nigeria to join the comity of nations which has successfully eliminated the
production, importation, distribution and consumption of industrially produced
TFAs from their food supply.
As a responsive and responsible custodian of the
health of the Nigerian people; the NMA, in response to the WHO directive
summarised in the REPLACE strategy, has put together a pragmatic phased agenda.
The strategy is tagged; ‘Improving the
Cardiovascular-health of Nigerians Project’ (The ICON Project) and serves as a
veritable platform to engage all stakeholders and mobilise support for NAFDAC
and by extension Nigeria to defeat the monster of TFAs and other related risk
factors implicated in cardiovascular diseases.
The ICON Project provides a unique opportunity to
also address other public health challenges posed by the consumption of
industrially-produced TFAs.
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