BRIDGETOWN, Barbados–The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is conducting a climate risk and food safety baseline assessment as part (EU/CARIFORUM) Strengthening Climate Resilient Health Systems in the Caribbean
“While the body of evidence is slowly growing on an international scale, work on climate change and food safety risks have not been well documented in the Caribbean region, nor has the Caribbean’s ability to respond to climate-driven outbreak events been assessed.
“With a scarcity of information, the Caribbean will continue to remain vulnerable to the effects of climate change on food safety and security,” said CARPHA’s executive director, Dr. Joy St. John.
The country assessment exercise seeks to determine the resilience of food/water safety and health and agriculture-related sectors in response to the effects of climate change in CARIFORUM countries. Assessments of past national food safety plans have shown limited incorporation of climate resilience. However, CARPHA and PAHO, through this project, will be reviewing and revising these plans with countries, factoring in climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Some of its objectives are to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities in the surveillance and outbreak investigation of foodborne diseases and food/water borne hazards related to climate/weather events; identify reservoirs for food and water-borne disease pathogens; and, to assess the capacity for implementing climate integrated foodborne disease early warning systems.
The project’s announcement comes as the global community observes World Food Safety Day (WFSD) on Tuesday under “Safer Food, Better Health.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said an estimated 600 million, almost one in 10 people, fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420,000 die every year. And startlingly, children under five years old carry 40 percent of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year.
The United Nations established World Food Safety Day in 2018 to raise awareness about food safety. Observed on June 7, World Food Safety Day initiatives highlight how to prevent foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances that enter the body through contaminated food or water.
However, to tackle this issue, better data is needed to understand the far-reaching impacts of unsafe food and document the capacity of Caribbean countries to respond to and, in turn, develop climate-resilient food safety plans.
CARPHA said that out of a participating ten countries, the majority had developed national food safety plans, and country officials recognize the effects of climate change on national and regional food safety and security and the increased future risks. Within the health sector, emphasis will be placed on strengthening surveillance systems, including enhancing laboratory capacity to detect foodborne diseases.
Climate change events such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts also exert pressure on food production systems in the Caribbean, making countries highly dependent on food imports and volatile prices.
According to Center Director of the Pan American Center for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health (PANAFTOSA), Dr. Ottorino Cosivi, “Caribbean countries are particularly vulnerable to emerging diseases derived from climate change events.
“There is a delicate balance between the health of people, the health of animals, and ecosystems. If the balance is broken, public health can be affected. There is an increasing need to build climate-resilient food systems under the One Health approach to ensure food safety along the food value chain and sustainably improve productivity,” Dr. Costive said.
Improving hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors also helps to reduce the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance along the food chain and in the environment.
FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator, Dr. Renata Clarke, said that the current focus of Caribbean leaders on a regional approach to food security should extend to food safety.
“Food cannot flow efficiently among the countries if there is no confidence in the systems of food safety control applied by industry and national regulators within each jurisdiction. An ongoing FAO project enables countries to carry out systematic assessments of their food control systems that allow countries to recognize areas of weakness and plan effectively to address them.
The spirit of World Food Safety Day is to bring home the message that ‘food safety is everyone’s business. It is not just about what governments and industries can do but about what consumers must do.
She noted that food systems are dynamic, and this makes food safety dynamic:
“There needs to be constant vigilance to ensure that our food safety system keeps pace with changes provoked by climate change, technology, and changing lifestyles.”
The Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) is CARICOM’s inter-governmental agency, mandated to coordinate and organize actions to enhance, strengthen and harmonize the regional sanitary and phytosanitary mechanisms.
“Food is a basic human right; no single country can solve existing or emerging food safety challenges. The solution: all countries must work together to put food safety measures. We must move as one, united together with one goal; to provide safer food and better health,” said Dr. Suzan Mclennon-Miguel, CAHFSA’s food safety specialist.
She called on all stakeholders and consumers to become educated on food safety.
“CAHFSA stands ready to work with these organizations and other Caribbean regional partners to guide and strengthen each country to harmonize its food safety systems,” Dr. McLennon-Miguel added.
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