Dear High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition,
I am providing comments on behalf of the Ministry of Health of Brazil. Thank you for sharing the draft of this valuable discussion.
We appreciate the online consultation for the Draft report on Data collection and analysis tools for food security and nutrition and recognize the importance of the subject.
It is important to emphasize that the promotion of food and nutritional security should encompass the concept of the human right to food, considering healthy food as an eating practice appropriate to local biological and sociocultural aspects, taking into account: i) the needs of each phase of the life course and special dietary needs; ii) the local food culture and the dimensions of gender, race and ethnicity; iii) accessibility from physical and financial point of view; iv) balanced quantity and quality, safety, diversification; and v) sustainable productive practices.
We would like to highlight the importance of intensifying and strengthening countries data collection and analysis capabilities to evaluate the food and nutritional situation of its population, as well as its determinants. This effort should aim at identifying the health, food and nutritional profile of a country’s population, as well as possible gaps and deficiencies, in order to inform public policies on food and nutritional security.
Healthy balanced diets and food security promote all dimensions of individual health and well-being and helps to protect against malnutrition in all its forms. Therefore, it is crucial that safe and healthy food is available to all.
Thank you again and best regards,
Larissa Eloia
Assessoria de Assuntos Internacionais em Saúde – AISA
Gabinete do Ministro | Ministério da Saúde
Ms. Larissa Sales