Issues such as the current situation of health regulation at the regional and international levels, public-private measures in health and intersectoral work opportunities for health welfare are just some of the issues that were discussed in the first forum “Together for Nutrition “, a space organized by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) and the Trade Union of Industrialists of Panama (SIP), held on February 7th at the Sheraton Hotel in the Panamanian capital.
The seminar was attended by authorities from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Commerce and the Federation of Chambers and Industrial Associations of Central America and the Dominican Republic (Fecaica), which brings together more than 7 thousand companies from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
The vice president of the CCIAP, Gabriel Barletta, said that in the country there are health problems that must be attacked through public and private sector partnerships, to create public health policies.
“We seek to contribute to the solution of the problems that affect our society in the field of health, where nutrition, lifestyles and education of our population are of special importance,” the leader said, recalling that, in this address, the nation has effective measures such as the regulation of cosmetics and medicines.
At the same time, and for this same purpose, the bill that creates the General Directorate for the supply of medicines is under treatment in the National Assembly, with the purpose of buying and supplying medicines to the health centers of Panama.
This type of regulation tends to reduce the effect of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the population of Panama, where the Preventive Health Census revealed that poor diet and sedentary lifestyle have caused NCDs to be the cause of nearly 65% of Panamanians’s deaths. Of all the citizens registered so far, 43% suffer from obesity or overweight, 38% hyperlipidemia, 36% hypertension, 14% diabetes and 3.2% kidney disease.