NMA commends NAFDAC over move to reduce cardiovascular diseases

The Nigerian Medical Association has commended the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control over move to reduce the risk associated with cardiovascular diseases.
The President of the association, Dr Francis Faduyile, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
He stated that at the 2018 World Health Assembly in Geneva, the World Health Organisation called on countries to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply.
He said that the timely efforts by NAFDAC to reduce the disease aligned with global efforts and paradigm shift to narrow the spectrum of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.
According to the statement, the NMA graciously commends this timely effort of the agency which aligns with the global efforts and paradigm shift to narrow the spectrum of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.
This, he said, had continued to swell the epidemic of Non-Communicable Diseases around the globe by eliminating industrially produced TFAs from all food supplies.
He said: “NMA recognises this as an important step forward in improving the diets and health outcomes of Nigerians and a turning point for Nigeria to join the comity of nations.
“Which have successfully eliminated the production, importation, distribution and consumption of industrially produced TFAs from their food supply.”
The statement said: “As a responsive and responsible custodian of the health of the Nigerian people; the NMA has put together a pragmatic phased agenda christened towards improving the Cardiovascular-health of Nigerians Project.
He said that the NMA was a veritable platform to engage all stakeholders and mobilise support for NAFDAC and by extension Nigeria to defeat the monster of TFAs and other related risk factors implicated in cardiovascular diseases.”
According to him, the need to urgently and totally eliminate industrially produced TFAs in all products in the country’s food supply cannot be overemphasised.
He added that doing otherwise would mean consequent endorsement of the deaths of more than 18 million people each year from cardiovascular disease.
According to him, CVD accounts for seven per cent of deaths annually in Nigeria.