Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has called on the international community to put pressure on the food industry to reduce harmful foodtsuffs and promote healthy eating habits worldwide. The Minister was speaking at the United Nations High Level meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases that ended in New York yesterday. The meeting was attended by UN Secretary-General, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Heads and State and other health Ministers.
In his address, the health Minister also called on the international community to put pressure on the alcohol industry to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol through ceasing to advertise what is clearly a dangerous product. "To prevent non-communicable diseases, South Africa urges the international community to put pressure on the food industry to reduce harmful foodstuffs and promote healthy eating habits worldwide," said the health Minister.
Recently, the health Minister expressed his concern that South Africa is one of the countries in the world with the increasing rate of non-communicable
diseases, something that further complicates the diseases burden that the country is having to contend with. To deal with this problem, the Minister has mooted a range of interventions which include the regulation of advertising of fast foodstuffs especially during children's programmes.
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