WHO

6 June 2019

News release

Geneva, Switzerland

WHO

The first ever celebration of the United Nations World Food Safety Day, to be marked globally on 7 June, aims to strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe.

Every year, nearly one in ten people in the world (an estimated 600 million people) fall ill and 420,000 die after eating food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances. Unsafe food also hinders development in many low- and middle-income economies, which lose around US$ 95 billion in productivity associated with illness, disability, and premature death suffered by workers.

World Food Safety Day 2019’s theme is that food safety is everyone’s business. Food safety contributes to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

The UN has designated two of its agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to lead efforts in promoting food safety around the world.

FAO and WHO are joining forces to assist countries to prevent, manage and respond to risks along the food supply chain, working with food producers and vendors, regulatory authorities and civil society stakeholders, whether the food is domestically produced or imported.

“Whether you are a farmer, farm supplier, food processor, transporter, marketer or consumer, food safety is your business,” FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said. “There is no food security without food safety,” he said.

“Unsafe food kills an estimated 420,000 people every year. These deaths are entirely preventable,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “World Food Safety Day is a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the dangers of unsafe food with governments, producers, handlers and consumers. From farm to plate, we all have a role to play in making food safe.”

Investing in sustainable food systems pays off

FAO and WHO underline the importance of everyone’s access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, and that safe food is critical to promoting health and ending hunger, two of the primary aims of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Safe food allows for suitable intake of nutrients and contributes to a healthy life. Safe food production improves sustainability by enabling market access and productivity, which drives economic development and poverty alleviation, especially in rural areas.

Investment in consumer food safety education has the potential to reduce foodborne disease and return savings of up to $10 for each dollar invested.

Get involved in World Food Safety Day

Activities around the world for World Food Safety Day aim to inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne health risks.

The right actions along the food supply chain, from farmers to consumers, as well as good governance and regulations, are essential to food safety.

FAO and WHO have created a new guide to show how everyone can get involved. The guide includes five steps to make a sustained difference to food safety:

1. Ensure it’s safe. Governments must ensure safe and nutritious food for all.
2. Grow it safe.  Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices.
3. Keep it safe. Business operators must make sure food is safely transported, stored and prepared.
4. 1. Check it’s safe. Consumers need access to timely, clear and reliable information about the nutritional and disease risks associated with their food choices.
   2. Team up for safety. Governments, regional economic bodies, UN organizations, development agencies, trade organizations, consumer and producer groups, academic and research institutions and private sector entities must work together on food safety issues.

   Starting in 2019, every 7 June will be a time to highlight the benefits of safe food. World Food Safety Day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018. The process was initiated in 2016 by Costa Rica through the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which is managed by FAO and WHO.

HHS

“……In response to the current situation, CDC has:

• Implemented an Incident Management Structure (IMS) within the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases to respond to the measles outbreaks.
• Reinforced to healthcare providers the guidelines for recognition and prevention of measles.
• Developed a toolkit with resources for physicians about measles and vaccines and has begun implementing a strategy to address vaccine hesitancy, including creating new resources and updating existing ones to counter misinformation.
• Undertaken outreach to rabbinical, camp, and medical associations to help spread clear, consistent, and credible vaccine information through trusted sources.
• Deployed a field team to Rockland County, NY, to provide technical assistance with case identification and contact tracing.
• Continued to work with local communities to figure out how to develop culturally appropriate communications resources for affected areas in New York.
• Since January 1, 2019, conducted 73 air contact investigations for measles and identified over 1,500 individuals who were exposed to the measles virus during travel.
• Deployed an immunization program project officer to Albany……”

NEJM

“…..it remains unclear how azithromycin might be preventing childhood deaths. “Thus far our general sense is that azithromycin may work better in places with the highest childhood mortality, and these places have a very high burden of infectious illnesses, so we think azithromycin very likely is treating a multitude of infections that might ultimately have caused a death,” he [study co-author and University of California-San Francisco ophthalmology professor Jeremy Keenan, MD, MPH] said.

Other theories include a benefit to childhood growth, a change in gut microbiota, or an anti-inflammatory effect…..”

BBC

“……There have been 2,025 cases of Ebola and 1,357 deaths from the virus during the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo……”

CNN

“…….Deadly accident: At least one person has died, a source familiar with the investigation said.

• More wounded: At least 22 people — 20 cadets and two soldiers — were injured in the accident. We don’t know the extent of their injuries.
• The scene: The accident happened at the Camp Natural Bridge training site near the US Military Academy at West Point……”

Congressional Biodefense Caucus

“……The Congressional Biodefense Caucus will serve as an informal group for Members dedicated to strengthening our nation’s biodefense enterprise and national security against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats and pandemic outbreaks. This Caucus will serve as a platform to educate Members and staff on the very real threats our nation faces from a CBRN attack or pandemic outbreak and identifying the existing gaps in our preparedness and response capabilities. Through regular briefings, the Caucus will focus on the important role that the federal and local government, our private sector partners, and the public all have in ensuring we as a nation are equipped for an emergency and identify the existing gaps in our preparedness and response capabilities……”

Pandemic legislation

Today, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation, the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPA), authored by Reps. Susan W. Brooks (R-IN05) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA18) to strengthen the country’s existing preparedness and response programs. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act is critically important legislation that works to make our nation better prepared for and able to keep Americans safer in response to natural disasters or biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear threats to our public health and national security,” Brooks said. “I am proud this bipartisan legislation is now on its way to the President’s desk to be signed into law because it will ensure our health care professionals are trained to respond to possible pandemic outbreaks, prioritize the further development of our national stockpile of vaccines, medical equipment and diagnostics, and establish new advisory groups focused on protecting vulnerable populations such as senior citizens and people with disabilities during public health threats and emergencies.”

“The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act better equips our federal agencies to respond to new and emerging threats that jeopardize our national security and public health,” Eshoo said. “I applaud the House and Senate’s bipartisan commitment to strengthening our nation’s existing preparedness and response programs, and I look forward to the President signing this important bill into law.”

BACKGROUND

The Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPA) ensures our nation is prepared to respond to a wide range of public health emergencies, whether man-made or occurring through a natural disaster or infectious disease. PAHPA strengthens and improves our national preparedness and response for public health emergencies through our hospitals, state and local health providers, and by accelerating medical countermeasure research and development. Specifically, the legislation focuses on the needs of special populations including children, people with disabilities and seniors before and during a public health emergency. It codifies the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Enterprise and the duties of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), while maintaining the important role of the Centers for Disease Control in emergency and response activities. The legislation also provides the authorization and federal resources to invest in programs related to Pandemic Influenza and Emerging Infectious Diseases.

In addition, PAHPA reauthorizes funding to improve bioterrorism and other public health emergency preparedness and response activities such as the Hospital Preparedness Program, the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement, Project BioShield, and BARDA for the advanced research and development of medical countermeasures (MCMs). PAHPA previously expired on September 30, 2018.

Brooks and Eshoo are co-founders of the Congressional Biodefense Caucus. The Caucus serves as a platform to educate Members of Congress and their staff on the very real threats our nation faces from a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack or pandemic outbreak. It also aims to identify the existing gaps in our preparedness and response capabilities.

CDC

• Situation update
  * Cases: 2008
• *  Deaths: 1346

WHO

Psychological support for life after Ebola

It is a bittersweet day for Kennedy, 8 years old, who is about to be released from the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Butembo, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On the one hand, he is cured.

On the other, he has lost two family members to the disease – and he does not know it yet.

Ebola has a fatality rate of about 50%, so explaining the loss of family members and helping patients through the grieving process is a daily task for psychologists who work alongside doctors, nurses and caregivers.

There are five psychologists and 11 psychosocial assistants, trained by the Danish Refugee Council and financed by UNICEF, working at the Butembo ETC.

Kennedy’s psychosocial assistant, Shabani Dezy, sits down with him for his session. First, he asks Kennedy some questions. Is he aware his sister and grandfather were also sick? When was the last time he saw them?

Then he explains how they too were admitted to the ETC as suspect cases and transferred to the confirmed cases ward. He talks about the time he and other health workers spent with them and the care they were given.

Finally, he asks about which religious background Kennedy belongs to and he explains they have gone to heaven for their second life.

“Kennedy, if today we call you a hero, it’s because God wanted you to stay alive because there is something you will accomplish in your life.”

Mental Health after Ebola

Outside the treatment centre, Kennedy’s family is waiting to receive him. His mother is still mourning the loss of her father and daughter. She too has been working with psychologist Dezy to move forward. He reminds her anytime she or Kennedy need help to come see him.

Dezy explains the people in the area are already traumatised by the ongoing conflict, and Ebola exacerbates the situation.

“Ebola is a new threat in this community. It has affected everyone’s mental health. It’s a disease that kills so many, and everyone is afraid of death. It also affects the economy because decontamination efforts require mattresses and other personal effects to be destroyed.”

Then there is the stigmatisation. Some households have had multiple deaths in the family. The surviving family members tend to be stigmatised by the community who stop doing business with them or coming to visit.

“They say, ‘there’s the family that brought us Ebola. We don’t want anything to do with them.’ My colleagues and I have worked hard to understand the environment surrounding families and to work to reintegrate them.”

Notes for editors

Providing Psychological Support to Ebola patients, survivors and affected communities

Ebola is a traumatic illness both in terms of symptom severity and mortality rates. Those affected are likely to experience psychological effects due to the traumatic course of the infection, fear of death and the experience of witnessing others dying. It can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of those affected, their family, community members and the health workers treating people with Ebola.

Survivors can experience psychosocial consequences due to feelings of shame or guilt (e.g. from transmitting infection to others) and stigmatization or blame from their communities. Some have been threatened, attacked, evicted, left behind by, or excluded from, their families and communities because they were seen as tainted and dangerous. Fear and stigma of Ebola are contributed to by cultural beliefs, widespread fears due to high infection risk, lack of information and misinformation.

WHO and partners provide financial resources, guidelines and training materials for responders to provide humane, supportive and practical help to communities affected by the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, DRC.