Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), has conducted a national workshop on estimating the burden of foodborne diseases as part of their joint efforts to improve food safety and protect public health.
The workshop, which was attended by experts and specialists from relevant government agencies across the country, aimed to build national capacity to use internationally standardized methodologies to assess the burden of foodborne disease. This will align with the best international standards and ultimately improve food safety at the national level.
In her opening remarks, Mouza Suhail Al Muhairi, Deputy Director-General for Regulatory and Administrative Affairs at ADAFSA, expressed her appreciation for the effective collaboration between ADAFSA and WHO in managing food risks and addressing food safety challenges.
This workshop is part of the joint efforts by ADAFSA and WHO to strengthen international cooperation in food safety, aligning with the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030. In April 2021, ADAFSA’s Committee on Agricultural and Food Risk Assessment adopted the proposal to estimate the burden of foodborne diseases.
This estimate is in line with the World Health Assembly’s request to WHO to regularly monitor and report to Member States on the global burden of foodborne diseases. WHO encourages all countries to work on developing their estimates.
The collaboration also aims to strengthen the national burden of disease studies to ensure a more efficient allocation of resources for prevention, intervention, and control. In addition, ADAFSA aims to use standardized international methodologies to facilitate the exchange of expertise, compare estimates, and improve both food safety policy and the national food safety system.