A STUDY by the George Institute for Global Health has revealed the potential health benefits and cost savings associated with Nigeria’s trans fat elimination policy.
According to the research findings, enforcing regulations to eliminate trans fats from the Nigerian food supply could save about 260,000 deaths from heart disease and an estimated $520 million in healthcare expenditures over the population’s lifetime.
The World Health Organization, WHO, defines trans fat, or trans-fatty acids, as unsaturated fatty acids that come from either natural or industrial sources. Naturally occurring trans fat comes from ruminants (cows and sheep), while industrial trans fats are non-essential substances formed in an industrial process, found in certain vegetable oils, and used to make processed, fried, and street foods, such as suya.
Read Also:
Deadly snacks: How trans fats in popcorn endanger lives
CSO advocates hike of SSB tax from N10 to N130/litre
Trans-fat is a slow poison in our food chain, food activists raise the alarm, call for regulation
According to WHO, cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of mortality in the world, with significant risk factors including poor dietary choices, sedentary lifestyles, and the consumption of tobacco and alcohol.
Among other dietary factors, consumption of trans fat increases the risk of death from any cause by 34 per cent, coronary heart disease deaths by 28 per cent, and coronary heart disease by 21 per cent.
The George Institute for Global Health study, which emerged from a comprehensive analysis conducted by health experts, showed that trans fat elimination in Nigeria could be cost-saving and improve the population’s health while generating net savings.
It showed that Nigeria is the second African country to embrace a best-practice trans fat elimination policy, but its implementation is still pending, leaving many lives at risk.
“In 2023, Nigeria followed South Africa as only the second African country to adopt a best practice (on) trans fat elimination policy and is now working to implement regulations. The cost-effectiveness model assessed the impact of limiting industrially produced trans fats to less than two per cent of total fats in all foods, fats, and oils in the Nigerian food supply.
“The research also found that the policy could prevent or postpone 67,000 cases of heart disease within the first ten years. This equates to a total of 260,000 deaths and 480,000 cases of heart disease prevented across the entire lifetime of the population,” the study said.
The lead author and senior research fellow at the George Institute, Matti Marklund, said although trans fat intakes in Nigeria might be considerably lower than in many other countries, their analysis indicated that its trans fat policy could still save thousands of lives in just a matter of years.
While also highlighting that industrial trans fats are responsible for around 500,000 premature deaths globally from heart disease every year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, only 53 countries have best-practice trans fat policies in place, the majority of which are high-income countries, leaving approximately half of the world’s population exposed to health risks.
Dike Ojji, a professor and Head of the Cardiovascular Research Unit at the University of Abuja and a senior author of the research, said, “Governments must act swiftly to address the rising burden of cardiovascular disease that endanger the health of populations, care services, and economies across Africa. We hope the mounting evidence supporting the elimination of trans fats will encourage other African nations to emulate Nigeria’s best practice policy.”
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M