NUTRITION

Noncommunicable Diseases. In mid-February the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a report on the global fight against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The report shows the progress made by member countries in developing public policies to reduce the number of deaths from these causes. The goal is to reduce these by a third by 2030, within the framework of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, the WHO is trying to get countries to reduce sodium consumption and eliminate saturated fats from food. However, the report considers that so far states have not implemented enough measures to combat NCDs, and thus intends to drive new measures in partnership with governments, throughout the year.

Reducing sodium consumption includes food reformulation, awareness campaigns and the establishment of front labelling. Chile and Uruguay are the most advanced countries in Latin America, although the report also highlights efforts made by Peru and Argentina in this area. Countries with less measures in place are El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Another indicator analysed is the elimination of saturated fats in food chains. Chile, Argentina, Peru and Colombia are the countries showing greatest progress in eliminating this ingredient from processed foods. In contrast, Bolivia, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Honduras show little progress.

Next steps

The report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the progress of member countries in the fight against noncommunicable diseases points out that there has been little progress in areas such as reducing sodium consumption and eliminating saturated fats in the region. The WHO is expected to work on driving measures in this area throughout the year to meet the goal of reducing deaths from NCDs by a third by 2030, in partnership with national governments.