Trends in global health and food safety

Barbara Szonyi

ILRI@40 Livestock and healthy lives workshopAddis Ababa, 7 November 2014

Outline

• Trends in leading causes of poor health in developed and developing countries

• Concerns regarding animal-source foods in Ethiopia

• ILRI food safety work in Ethiopia• Questions to consider

Leading causes of poor health in developed and developing countries

• Measured as disability-adjusted life year (DALY)

• DALY is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.

Top causes of DALY in developed countries

Rank 1990 Condition

1 Ischemic heart disease

2 Stroke

3 Low back pain

4 Road injury

5 Lung cancer

6 Major depressive disorder

7 COPD

8 Self-harm

9 Other musculoskeletal

10 Diabetes

Rank 2010 Condition

1 Ischemic heart disease

2 Stroke

3 Low back pain

4 Major depressive disorder

5 Lung cancer

6 COPD

7 Other musculoskeletal

8 Road injury

9 Diabetes

10 Falls

Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)

Developed world

• Over 20 years the leading causes of poor health remained the same

• Non-infectious diseases• The leading cause of illness have been cardio-

vascular disease– Diet and sedentary lifestyle are risk factors

Top causes of DALY in developing countries

1990 Rank Condition

1 Lower respiratory infections2 Diarrheal diseases

3 Preterm birth complications4 COPD5 Malaria6 Stroke

7 Protein-energy malnutrition8 Tuberculosis9 Neonatal encephalopathy

10 Ischemic heart disease

2010 Rank Condition

1 Lower respiratory infections

2 Diarrheal diseases

3 Ischemic heart disease

4 Malaria

5 Stroke

6 HIV/AIDS

7 Preterm birth complications

8 Road injury

9 COPD

10 Low back pain

Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)

Developing world

• Over 20 years the leading cause of poor health remained the same

• Infectious diseases• First rank is respiratory infections– Mostly vaccine-preventable infections

• Second rank is diarrheal diseases – Poor sanitation and food safety standards– Zoonotic pathogens

• Cardio-vascular illness is creeping up the list

Food-borne disease in the developing world

Source: D Grace et al. 2002. Mapping of poverty and likely zoonoses hot spots. Report to Department of International Development, UK.

Top causes of death in Ethiopia

Rank 1990 Condition

1 Lower respiratory infections

2 Diarrheal diseases

3 Measles

4 Malaria

5 Tuberculosis

6 War & legal intervention

7 Protein-energy malnutrition

8 Meningitis

9 Preterm birth complications

10 Stroke

2010 Rank Condition

1 Lower respiratory infections

2 Diarrheal diseases

3 Malaria

4 Tuberculosis

5 Protein-energy malnutrition

6 Stroke

7 Preterm birth complications

8 HIV/AIDS

9 Road injury

10 Meningitis

Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)

Concerns regarding animal-source foods in Ethiopia

• Low level of consumption of animal-source foods– Contribute to protein-energy malnutrition

• Presence of hazards in animal-source foods– Biological hazards (food-borne pathogens)– Chemical hazards (aflatoxins, drug residues)

• Risky practices at all levels along the value chainsPhoto credits: Tamsin Dewe, Elias Walelign, the Compass Edge

ILRI food safety work in Ethiopia

• Biological hazard risk assessment targeting foodborne pathogens in small ruminants– In slaughterhouses:• E coli 0157, Salmonella and Campylobacter in meat• Survey on health status of sheep and goats presented

for slaughter

– Rural smallholder producers:• Coliforms, E coli 0157 and Listeria monocytogenes in

goat milk and goat milk products

ILRI food safety work in Ethiopia

• Chemical hazard risk assessment targeting aflatoxins in dairy and poultry food chains

ILRI food safety work in Ethiopia

• Training and intervention– Hands-on training for meat inspectors on pre-and-

post harvest practices of small ruminants– Training for rural goat milk producers/processors on

good manufacturing practices

Questions to consider

• Will the current trends in disease burden continue for the foreseeable future?

• How does agriculture influence these trends?– Particularly zoonotic agents of diarrheal illness in

the developing world• What can we as livestock researchers do about

it?

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