Your Excellency, Honourable Minister of Health, Prof. Dr Eksavang Vongvichit; Esteemed Governor of Vientiane Capital, Dr. Sinlavong Khoutphaithoun; Distinguished guests and colleagues; Members of Media; Ladies and Gentlemen Good morning.
Since 1948, the World Health Day has been celebrated every year on 7 April. Each year, the World Health Organization selects a priority area of global public health concern as the theme for the World Health Day. This year’s theme is on Food Safety, an area of public health action which aims to protect consumers from risks of food poisoning and foodborne diseases.
I am honoured to be here on behalf of the World Health Organization to welcome you on this very special occasion. Everyone everywhere needs safe food, free from microbes, viruses and chemicals. But globalization means the food you are eating today may have come from the other side of the world.
We all have a role to make food safe - from farm to plate; the presence of all of us here this morning reiterates the growing attention to this issue. We would like to thank the Government of Lao PDR for recognizing this as an issue of concern and organizing this event to raise awareness amongst the population.
Food safety is a cross cutting issue with shared responsibility, WHO welcome the participation of non-public health sectors and development partners in this campaign but we would also like to take this opportunity to encourage governments, manufacturers, retailers, and the public to understand the importance of food safety, in ensuring that the food when served on people’s plates, is safe to eat.
I am delighted to learn that the Food Safety trainings are regularly conducted by the Vientiane Capital Department of Health, Food and Drug Department for the staff of hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and food outlets using WHO’s Five keys to safer food. Proper sanitary measures should be applied to food handling and storage, preparation, transport and distribution to avoid any contamination.
It is really encouraging to know that the Government of Lao PDR has put in place measures that will improve the safety of food from farms, factories, food outlets and street vendors.
It is important that we are ready for the challenges that lie ahead of us related to the issue of food safety. The low public awareness on food safety, globalization and its related spread of contaminants, lack of foodborne disease monitoring and surveillance, and inadequate funding and infrastructures to name a few, while new threats continue to emerge.
Changes in food production, distribution and consumption, change to the environment, climate changes, new and emerging bacteria and toxins, antimicrobial resistance and food scandals are threats that increased the risk that food becomes contaminated.
I am sure organizing this event today will encourage children to think about healthy food, parents to better understand food safety, and also for all development partners to address this cross cutting issue together with all relevant ministries so as to improve food safety.
And with Pimai celebrations on our door-step, this food safety theme holds it special significance; so that we take adequate measures to prevent the risk of food contamination before and during the New Year’s celebration.
I would wish you all a happy Pimai.
Thank you.