Rising food prices pose a very real threat to millions of people worldwide, writes Dr Muiris Houston
SOARING FOOD prices pose a real threat to the health and welfare of millions of people worldwide, a director of public health has said. And those worst affected would be the poorest people living in the cities, he said.
"Malnutrition is the most important global cause of poor health and death," said Diarmuid O'Donovan, director of public health with HSE West and senior lecturer in social and preventive medicine at NUI Galway.
"For poor families and households, rising food costs increase the risk of malnutrition and disease, especially in children," he said.
"Malnourished people are at increased risk of infection, especially diarrhoeal diseases where there is inadequate water and sanitation, and of opportunistic infections associated with HIV," he said.
Dr O'Donovan is the author of a recently published book - The Atlas of Health: Mapping the Challenges and Causes of Disease (Earthscan London 2008). He contends that rising food prices pose a real threat to millions of people worldwide.
"Soaring food prices will worsen these people's situation and increase the 850 million people who already go hungry everyday by many millions. The people most affected are the poorest people living in cities around the world. Unrest related to recent food shortages can be seen in food riots in several countries."
Poverty in the developing world is a reminder of Ireland's health status at the beginning of the 20th century; Dublin and Calcutta had the highest infant mortality rates in the world in 1900. Back then, as in Africa now, poverty, nutrition, sanitation and a clean water supply were the key determinants of a person's health.
"In sub-Saharan Africa, some 32 per cent of people were under-nourished, even before the recent surge in food prices. In developing countries worldwide, 60 per cent of deaths in children under five are linked to their low weight. The latest figures from Zambia show that almost one in four children under five are below the recommended weight for his or her age.
Dr O'Donovan's initial experience was in Zambia as a volunteer medical officer in a rural district hospital.
He has also worked as an epidemiologist in Gambia studying sexually transmitted infection in pregnant women.
So what are the major global health challenges of the future?
Dr O'Donovan points to a change in the pattern and prevalence of disease as a result of a growing and ageing population.
"Maternal mortality, malnutrition and communicable diseases will continue to be major problems for people living in low income countries," he said. "Rapid urbanisation and the impact of climate change, and the consequences of both on people's health, need to be addressed."
But his key message is the need to address poverty. "Poverty affects everything that affects health, including food, water and sanitation, education, housing and access to effective health services. To improve health we must address poverty: this is true in every society."