GLOBAL – The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to launch its global trans fat elimination report come Monday, 23 January 2023.
The main objectives of the event are to highlight the progress made in the past year by countries in different regions in tackling industrially produced trans fat and further motivate countries to accelerate actions in achieving the 2023 trans fat elimination target.
A key objective of the 13th General Programme of Work (2019–2023) of the WHO, which was endorsed by the 71st World Health Assembly in resolution WHA71.1 on May 25, 2018, is the elimination of industrially produced trans fat by 2023.
The WHO also unveiled the REPLACE action framework in May 2018 as a guide for nations to quickly, completely, and sustainably remove industrially produced trans fat from the food supply.
The package comprises an overarching technical document that provides a rationale and framework for this integrated approach to trans fat elimination, along with six modules and additional web resources to facilitate implementation.
The six areas of action include reviewing dietary sources of industrially-produced trans fat and the landscape for required policy change, promoting the replacement of industrially-produced trans fat with healthier fats and oils, and legislation or enactment of regulatory actions to eliminate industrially-produced trans fat.
It also includes assessing and monitoring trans fat content in the food supply and changes in trans fat consumption in the population, creating awareness of the negative health impact of trans fat among policy-makers, producers, suppliers, and the public, and enforcing compliance with policies and regulations.
The fourth progress report, which WHO is releasing this year, examines obstacles and potential for future action, details the current global, regional, and national situations as well as the progress that has been accomplished in various nations over the last year.
According to this year’s research, rules restricting the use of industrial trans fat have been put into place in 60 nations, which account for 43% of the world’s population and about 3.4 billion people. Of these, 43 have adopted best-practice regulations to get rid of industrial trans fat.
While there has been continuous progress, there are still many more member states that need to take action since 2023 is still the target year.
Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, will flag off the launch event, followed by a high-level speech by Dr. Thomas Frieden, President, and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives.
The event language is going to be English, and there will be interpretation for the official WHO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish).
Increased intake of trans fat (>1% of total energy intake) is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease mortality and events. Trans fat intake is responsible for approximately 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year around the world.
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