Quantifying national burdens of foodborne disease-Four imperatives for global impact

Abstract

Estimates of national burdens of the foodborne disease (FBD) inform country-level food safety policies, ranking infectious and non-infectious FBD hazards in terms of health and socioeconomic impact to mitigate FBD burdens. Using relevant publications on FBD burdens from scientific literature, this review contends that four major imperatives (health, economic, planetary boundaries, governance) argue for a sustainable programme to quantify national FBD burdens. FBD disproportionately affects children under five years of age, and low- and middle-income countries. The economic costs are significant and include medical care, child development, lost productivity and international trade losses. Climatic changes and environmental contamination cause socio-ecological disruptions, increasing risk factors for FBD. Good governance promotes food safety initiatives, addressing in part under-diagnosis and underreporting. Strengthening national policies on FBD surveillance and burden estimation can promote food safety policies and address the global and national imperatives for FBD control. Evidence-based educational and regulatory interventions for FBD can promote improvements in the health and socioeconomic circumstances of the most vulnerable.

Fig 1. Median subregional differences for foodborne disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100 000 population associated with (A) Non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica (

https://www.who.int/images/default-source/maps/ferg2010_non-typhoidal_s__enterica_a3_20240610.png), (B) Trematodes (Clonorchis sinensis, Fasciola spp., Intestinal flukes, Opisthorchis spp. and Paragonimus spp.) (https://www.who.int/images/default-source/maps/ferg2010_trematode_a3_20240610.png) and (C) Aflatoxin (https://www.who.int/images/default-source/maps/ferg2010_aflatoxin_a3_20240610.png) (Geneva: World Health Organization; [2024]. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO). Republished from World Health Organization, Geneva under a CC BY license, with permission from Ian Coltart, Manager copyright; World Health Organization, Geneva, original copyright 2024. Data are based on WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) 2007–2015 median estimates for 2010 [1].

Fig 2. Estimates of how the different control variables for planetary boundaries have changed from 1950 to present.

The green shaded polygon represents the safe operating space. Adapted from: Steffen et al 2015, https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html, reproduced under license [70]. AM – Antimicrobials, AMR – Antimicrobial resistance, BII – Functional diversity, E/MSY – Genetic diversity, Novel entities – organic pollutants, radioactive materials, nanomaterials, microplastics, N – nitrogen, P – phosphorus.