Delivered on behalf of the Director-General by Dr Eric Laroche, Assistant Director-General, Health Action in Crises
Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
The health sector is deeply concerned about the crisis caused by soaring food prices and the impact this is already having on poor and vulnerable populations.
Adequate food intake is a fundamental determinant of health throughout the lifespan. It influences pregnancy outcomes, and clinical outcomes of people infected with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and many other diseases. It affects the survival of the elderly. And it has an extremely profound effect on young children, on their physical growth and cognitive development, and on their ability to survive infectious diseases, such as malaria, measles and pneumonia.
The food crisis will undermine much hard-won progress in health development. The world already faces an estimated 3.5 million deaths from malnutrition each year. Many more will die as a result of this crisis.
Poor households spend well over half of their disposable income on food. More money for food means less money for health care, especially for the many millions of poor households who rely on out-of-pocket payments when they fall ill.
Moreover, food choices are highly sensitive to price. The first items to drop out of the diet are usually the healthy foods – fruits, vegetables, and high-quality sources of protein – which are nearly always more expensive. The food crisis is thus a dual threat to health: one threat arising from malnutrition, especially in young children, and a second threat from the many chronic diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers, that are strongly linked to improper diet.
I cannot overstress the need for emergency action, together with an urgent quest to ensure better food security in the future. To guide priority action, WHO has identified 21 countries around the world which are already experiencing high levels of acute and chronic undernutrition.
The health sector has very good knowledge about nutritional needs at different ages and in different high-risk groups. We have very good tools for monitoring deficiencies and sounding the alarm for action.
Above all, we need to gear up capacity, and very quickly, to manage malnutrition in vulnerable populations.
Let me close with a word of strong commitment. WHO will do all it can to help manage the health dimensions of this crisis. As I said, a great deal of hard-won progress is at stake.
Thank you.