A recent analysis conducted by The George Institute for Global Health has called on the Federal Government to implement a policy to eliminate trans fats.
The study, published in BMJ Global Health, highlights the urgent need for action to combat heart disease and protect public health.
While Nigeria has already adopted a trans-fat elimination policy, it has yet to be put into effect.
Wakadaily learnt that, The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has acknowledged efforts to address the issue, including collaboration with industry stakeholders to find alternative sources to harmful partially hydrogenated oils.
The study emphasizes the significant impact of enforcing this policy, estimating that it could prevent 260,000 deaths related to heart disease and save billions of Naira in healthcare costs.
The global prevalence of industrial trans fats contributes to around 500,000 premature deaths annually from heart disease, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization has called for the elimination of industrially produced trans fats, recommending setting a mandatory limit and a ban on partially hydrogenated oils.
The WHO has revised its target for global elimination to 2025. Urgency is stressed by the Head of the Cardiovascular Research Unit at the University of Abuja, who emphasizes the need for swift government action to address the rising burden of cardiovascular disease.
“We hope the mounting evidence supporting the elimination of trans fats will encourage other African nations to emulate Nigeria’s best practice policy.”
Financed by the Northwestern University Havey Institute for Global Health and the National Institutes of Health, the study also indicated that the adoption of the policy could potentially avert or delay 67,000 instances of heart disease within the initial decade.
This translates to a cumulative total of 260,000 fatalities and 480,000 occurrences of heart disease thwarted across the span of the population’s lifespan.
The chief writer and Senior Research Fellow at The George Institute contributed his perspective on the matter.
Dr Matti Marklund stated, “Although trans fat intakes in Nigeria may be considerably lower than in many other countries, our analysis indicates that its trans fat policy could still save thousands of lives in just a matter of years.
“The implementation costs represent a small fraction of the substantial savings that a trans fat limit can offer healthcare systems, mirroring findings from a separate study we led in Kenya last year.”
