NAFDAC partners UniAbuja to implement reduction of salt consumption 

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) in collaborative effort with University of Abuja has facilitated the implementation of the Action Plan to ensure early buy-in from different stakeholders on how to reduce excess salt consumption in Nigeria.

A report from the 1st Nigeria Sodium Study Multi-Sectoral Stakeholders’ Meeting Jointly Hosted by the University of Abuja and NAFDAC in Abuja, showed that consuming a high amount of sodium which is a key element in salt, is a major cause of high blood pressure, contribute to the risk of stroke, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease.

The report also showed that in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, the impact of these diseases that is attributed to excess salt consumption is significant and has been estimated to cause about 1 out of every 10 of deaths due to stroke and heart disease.

These revealed clear and compelling evidence of the benefits in reducing excess salt intake, including lower blood pressure and lower risk of stroke or death.

In 2019, Nigeria published its National Multi-sectoral Action Plan (NMSAP) for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases.

This action plan includes policies to reduce population-level salt consumption. Key policies under this Action Plan includes: Mandatory limits of sodium in packaged foods, Mass media campaigns to promote healthy eating, Regulations on food and beverage advertising to children and adolescents, and School-based health education programs.

The action plan is led by the Nigerian Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Other stakeholders include the Federal Ministry of Health, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, World Health Organisation, academia, local communities, the food industry, among other stakeholders.

The Nigeria Sodium Study Investigators presented findings on the in-depth interviews and focus group discussions among regulators, food producers, consumers, retailers and restaurants, academia, and healthcare workers, and the results of the packaged food retail surveys in the Federal Capital Territory, Kano State and Ogun State.

While the NMSAP was acceptable, major barriers to the implementation included: customs and cultural taste for high salt diets, lack of awareness and low knowledge on risk and amount of salt in foods, ambiguous and complex nutrition labels, easy accessibility and affordability of high salt diets, and unavailability of and experience with salt substitutes.

The retail survey showed that the saltiest food categories consistently exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations. Further, more than 1 out of every 7 of the 7,093 foods surveyed did not have any salt or sodium labeling for consumers to make healthy choices.

To implement and scale up the NMSAP, the Nigeria Sodium Study investigators recommend: improving community awareness and knowledge on the risk of excess salt consumption, improving standardisation and awareness of nutritional labelling, multi-sectoral collaboration and engagement, and strong government leadership, regulatory processes, and accountability mechanisms to enhance trust and ensure a level playing field.

Reducing excess salt intake will be a central strategy toward improving and sustaining the heart health of Nigerians to live longer, healthier lives by reducing the burden of heart disease and stroke. The first stakeholders’ meeting of the Nigeria Sodium Study was an initial and important step toward this goal.

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NAFDAC partners UniAbuja to implement reduction of salt consumption