Focus on food-borne illness

Unsafe food can lead to outbreaks of food-borne illness that can have serious health, economic, reputational implications for the region’s tourism dependent economies and adversely affect the influx of visitors to the Region. 

This is according to Dr. Lisa Indar, Head of the Tourism and Health programme and Foodborne Diseases Lead at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), as she addressed the Sub-Regional Workshop on Strengthening Food-borne Disease Surveillance in the Caribbean.

She recalled that since 2003, CARPHA and PAHO have been working together to reduce food-borne diseases (FBDs), and the workshop is part of continued efforts to ensure that the region is equipped to adequately prevent and combat FBDs and boost tourism sustainability.

Every year, thousands of people in the Caribbean experience food-borne illnesses, after exposure to contaminated food or drink. Recent increases in reported incidents of FBDs, have now made this common health issue a regional priority.
According to Dr. Karen Polson-Edwards, Acting Director of the Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division at CARPHA, statistics show that food-borne illness is one of the most common and increasing public health issues.
“However, ensuring the safe supply of food in the Caribbean was a complex challenge given the vast differences in countries and the Region’s heavy reliance on tourism and food importation”.

She also noted that the prevention of food-borne diseases is one of the many priorities of CARPHA, as the Caribbean relies heavily on income gained from the tourism sector which accounts for 25-65 per cent of the gross domestic products in most countries.

During the recently held workshop participants used the WHO Food-borne Disease Surveillance Manual to individually assess their country’s current ability to combat and prevent FBDs. In addition, creating action plans to identify areas of priority for national surveillance and the resources required to enhance food safety.