a Food Safety, Division of Health Security and Emergencies, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila, Philippines.
b Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Correspondence to Jenny Bishop (e-mail:bishopj@wpro.who.int
To cite this article:
Bishop J, Tritscher A. Foodborne safety surveillance and Response. Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal, 2012,3(2):1-3. doi:10.5365/wpsar.2012.3.2.013
The food safety community is eagerly awaiting the first results of pilot studies from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Initiative to Estimate the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases, which are due later this year. These studies were conducted in recognition of the growing threat posed by foodborne diseases worldwide to provide precise and comprehensive information on the magnitude of foodborne diseases to guide food safety policy, including the development and implementation of food safety standards in the context of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and provide a baseline for monitoring and impact assessment of food safety measures. The Initiative operates through its advisory body, the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) and comprises two main components:
As more burden of foodborne disease studies become available, the understanding of foodborne disease will transform from a limited diarrhoeal disease focus to one inclusive of a wide spectrum of foodborne illnesses, including chemical-related illnesses and relevant noncommunicable diseases. These studies also aim to address the problems posed by underreporting.1 Surveillance systems are a key source of information to inform the burden of foodborne disease estimates.
It is accepted internationally that surveillance systems have a dual purpose; the first is to detect, control and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Most countries of the WHO Western Pacific Region have such surveillance and response systems in place, but the effectiveness and coverage of those systems vary widely from country to country. Norton et al2 and Gunaratnam et al3 outline such foodborne disease outbreak investigations, including their detection and control through food safety mechanisms. Johnston4 discusses the food safety response to the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in New Zealand, outlining the importance of developing emergency response plans for food safety and the use of risk analysis (risk assessment, risk management and risk communication) in emergency situations to prevent foodborne disease outbreaks.
The second purpose of surveillance systems is to inform longer-term issues, including: (1) identifying priorities and developing policy for the control and prevention of foodborne diseases; (2) estimating the burden of foodborne diseases and monitoring trends; and (3) evaluating foodborne disease prevention and control strategies.5 The impact of using surveillance system data to address longer-term public health issues is successfully outlined by Campbell et al for foodborne Campylobacter in New Zealand. Here, surveillance data drove the development of interventions to successfully reduce the Campylobacter burden in New Zealand. The public health and financial benefits clearly display the power of such information. However, regrettably, across the Western Pacific Region, only a few countries have surveillance systems in place that can meet these objectives, severely impacting the efficiency of their food control systems.
In 2011, health representatives from the Western Pacific Region endorsed the Western Pacific Regional Food Safety Strategy 2011–2015.6 They urged Member States to use the Strategy as a framework for strengthening national food control systems to effectively protect public health, prevent fraud, avoid food adulteration and facilitate the sufficient availability of safe and healthy food.
The Strategy consists of the following seven themes:
In terms of surveillance, theme 3 aims to introduce a systematic effort to collect, analyse and interpret data on food contaminants and food consumption and establish effective links with the public health system to improve the availability of attributable data on foodborne disease. Theme 6 aims to contribute to health security by enhancing capacities to detect, assess and manage food safety incidents and emergencies at national and international levels. This will be achieved by sharing relevant expertise, resources and information globally, regionally and subregionally.
For each of the themes, strategic actions have been developed in consultation with Member States and are currently being implemented. WHO also has several programmes, in addition to the Initiative to Estimate the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases, which assist in the delivery of these strategic actions.
As discussed by Verger et al,7 this includes the identification of chemicals in the food-chain and evaluation of their impact on human health through Total Diet Studies and the Global Environment Monitoring System – Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food). On the response side, institutes involved in GEMS/Food are increasingly assisting developing countries in the detection of hazards causing food safety emergencies. Such efforts are applauded by WHO and the international community.
The Global Foodborne Infections Network (GFN) aims to build capacity to detect, control and prevent foodborne and other enteric infections from farm to table by promoting integrated, laboratory-based surveillance and fostering intersectoral collaboration among human health, veterinary and food-related disciplines through training courses and activities around the world.
For both day-to-day food safety information sharing as well as food safety response activities, the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), a joint initiative between WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was established in 2004. The network aims to: (1) promote the rapid exchange of information during food safety-related events; (2) share information on important food safety-related issues of global interest; (3) promote partnership and collaboration among countries; and (4) help countries strengthen their capacity to manage food safety risks. At present, a regionally-based strategy for enhancing participation in INFOSAN in Asia is under development and will be discussed later this year. Additionally, as part of efforts to strengthen INFOSAN and assist countries to detect, assess and manage food safety incidents and emergencies, and to assist in the building of core capacities defined by Annex 1 of the International Health Regulations (2005),8 a series of guidance documents have been developed by FAO and WHO. Those documents provide a guidance on developing national food safety response systems, application of risk analysis principles and procedures during food safety emergencies, developing and improving national food recall systems (yet to be published) and investigation of foodborne disease outbreaks.
Foodborne disease continues to represent a serious threat to the health of millions of people in the world, global trade of food continues to increase and developing countries continue to struggle to find resources to address food safety challenges in a coordinated and long-term manner. It is imperative that we improve collaboration and partnerships to address surveillance and response challenges. This will help to ensure that the public health and financial impact of foodborne disease is limited in incidents and emergencies. It will also ensure that we are using our limited resources in the most effective manner to address public health concerns for the good of each country and for the good of global health security.