Geneva-SANA
The work of the Executive Council of the World Health Organization continued at its 152nd session in Geneva for the sixth day, which will continue until the 7th of this month.
In the statement of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr. Hassan Al-Ghobash, on behalf of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, on the passage of a decade since the work of the United Nations for nutrition, the Minister of Health, Dr. Hassan Al-Ghobash, stated that 21 countries in the region have prepared since December of last year a national strategy or action plan on nutrition, as is available at 16 countries have a plan to prevent obesity and promote breastfeeding, and 14 countries have a policy to reduce trans fatty acid consumption, including all GCC countries and all middle-income countries in the region except Djibouti and Libya.
Dr. Al-Ghobash indicated that 13 countries and territories envisage a policy aimed at reducing the consumption of salt or sodium, and this includes the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia, and that 12 countries are setting a policy to reduce the impact of marketing unhealthy foods to children, and taxes have been implemented on Sugar-sweetened beverages in 11 countries and territories, 19 countries have a flour fortification policy, all countries are iodizing salt, and 14 countries have prepared food-based dietary guidelines.
Dr. Al-Ghobash explained that during the year 2021, the organization established a regional database of food components that is considered a data bank on food components that serves all countries of the region, thanking the organization's secretariat for its work with other United Nations agencies and ministries of health to build capacity, especially for the treatment management of acute malnutrition. severe disease in countries undergoing emergencies, as WHO supports countries of the Region to address all forms and causes of malnutrition and implement a number of prevention programmes.
It is noteworthy that the World Health Assembly unanimously elected Syria in May 2021, during its seventy-fourth session, to membership in the Executive Council of the World Health Organization, representing the Eastern Mediterranean Region, for a period of three years.
Rama Rashidi
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