Crisis Management Protocols
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The document outlines crisis management protocols for food safety and environmental crises. It discusses the basics of crisis management including legal frameworks, trained personnel, and surveillance systems. It emphasizes the important role of the health system in detecting outbreaks and the prerequisites for effective crisis management such as established reporting procedures and laboratory capacity. Good communication is also highlighted as critical support for crisis management. The document argues that each crisis is a learning experience and situations are always evolving, requiring adapted responses. It discusses how the ACE project aims to monitor emerging hazards and risks and could help update training to improve food safety compliance at the community level. Finally, it notes ways the ACE project and Africa's development goals are mutually beneficial, such as aligning research priorities
Crisis Management Protocols
- 1. FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, MINNA AFRICA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR MYCOTOXIN AND FOOD SAFETY Inaugural Meeting of Stakeholders, 17 -21 June 2019, Minna, Nigeria Habiba Hassan-Wassef, MD National Research Center, Cairo E-mail: bio_egypt@hotmail.com Crisis Management Protocols
- 2. OUTLINE •Food safety and environment related crises •Crisis management basics •Infrastructure prerequisites •The health system, a frontline actor •Importance of good communication •Crisis management, a learning experience •Adapting to an evolving situation •The ACE project and Africa’s development plans
- 3. Food safety and environment related crises Onset • Sudden and dramatic • insidious and slow in developing Toxic substance/contaminant • Microbial/viral/fungal/parasitic - • Chemical • Radioactive • Heavy metal • Marine related • Other Contaminant/toxin entry route • Food or water borne • Hand to mouth • Air born • Skin Stings and bites insects/reptiles/other
- 4. Crisis management basic requirements • Legal framework, codes, standards, public health norms/regulations • Competent trained personnel and services operating at all levels • Presence of a national food safety authority and poison center services • A public health surveillance system for early case detection, especially important in high risk exposure areas • Primary care health team familiar with symptoms of existing health hazards • Established crisis reporting system • National network of accredited reference laboratories
- 5. Prerequisites for crisis management and control • Health system services to detect an outbreak and trace all cases- Step 1 • Established national outbreak reporting templates and procedures – Step2 • Capacity for epidemiologic investigation and source identification – Step3 • Laboratory services to confirm findings and generate information – Step4 • Identified competent authority to stop point of contamination – Step 5 • Identified responsibility to apply measures to control an outbreak – Step 6 • Validate and announce end of outbreak – Step 7 • Identify responsibility and initiate legal action as appropriate – 8 Example of Egypt: Multiplicity of responsibility and overlap of sectoral mandates undermined efficiency of control measures and of handling food-related outbreaks prior to recent Food Law (2018)
- 6. Communication support to crisis management steps (1) source: Best practice for crisis communicators, EFSA.
- 7. Communication support to crisis management (2)
- 8. The health system, a frontline actor Much depends on the preparedness and performance of the primary care health teams at community level.
- 9. Crisis management, a learning experience Each crisis represents a learning experience to benefit, inter alia, • Training purposes • Development of guidelines • Update of educational materials • Detect newly emerging hazards and risk behaviors • Identify areas for research and innovation • Identify faulty high risk practices • Improve quality and pertinence of preventive measures and
- 10. Adapting to an evolving situation Research component of ACE project is well placed to monitor newly emerging health hazards; unexpected reactions to known contaminants and toxins; identify new high risk practices or behaviors; introduce innovative measures and appropriate technologies to raise compliance capacity to food safety and preventive measures at community level. This may eventually call for regular update of curriculums and training materials produced by the project
- 11. Some factors undermining efficiency of prevention and control measures at community level • Prevalent poverty interferes with ability to respect safety regulations. • High levels of illiteracy causing – inter alia - misuse in handling of modern technologies and products that can be a source of harmful incidents or contamination • Incomplete coverage by basic infrastructure services especially access to clean water and safe sanitation • Poor appreciation of need for compliance with protective norms and regulations • Increasing skills of professionals focuses more on needs of “modern” and “industrialized “ Africa. (Targeted strategies and actions to address community level issues are planned to be addressed by AUC PACA)
- 12. Africa Centers of Excellence and Development 2014 ACEs focused on Technology and Skills for Africa’s Development 2018 Project is referred to as the Africa Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) Project
- 13. Exploring the potential for impact of ACE on Development Goals
- 15. Ultimate goal of the SDGs is to promote healthy lives and wellbeing for all at all ages is shared with ultimate goal of ACE project
- 17. Improving nutrition is regarded as a catalyst for achieving goals throughout the SDGs “NOURISHING THE SDGs”
- 18. NOURISHING THE SDGs Source: Development Initiatives, 2017. Global Nutrition Report 2017: Nourishing the SDGs. Bristol, UK: Development Initiatives.
- 19. ACE Project and Africa’s Development plans/programmes Can they become mutually beneficial ? Example: aligning respective research priorities to satisfy and respond to identified national/regional and continental research needs
- 20. African Union Member States are currently undertaking the 2nd Biennial Review (BR) of progress made in achieving commitments of Heads of State made in the Malabo Declaration with its newly introduced component on Food safety
- 21. AFRICA FOOD SAFETY INDEX (AFSI) • Quote from Amare Ayalew’s (AUC-PACA) introduction of the AFSI “… contaminated food is no food”. Evaluation of country’s performance in food safety is now part of the Malabo Declaration current Biennial Review exercise
- 22. International and continental convergence on importance of food safety to advancement of nations • A new Food Safety Index for Africa introduced at the FAO-WHO Food Safety Conference (Addisb Ababa, Feb 2019) • Recognition of impact of malnutrition on acceleration of Africa’s economic growth “Stunted children lead to a stunted economy…” Quote from President Adesina, AfDB • Introduction of food safety index and module in 2nd Malabo Declaration Biennial Review • Expressed demand is made by food safety practitioners for increase in Accredited Reference laboratories across Africa (AUC Capacity Building in Food Safety meeting, May 2019)
- 23. Some identified challenges slowing improvement of African Food Security and Nutrition are being addressed by ACE • Insufficient qualified nutrition professionals in all categories • Academic institutions and curriculums to be strengthened • Unequal research capacity and technological platforms across African countries • Limited capacity for uptake of research outcomes/evidence for policy formulation • Limited focus of research efforts on identification and valorization of Africa’s rich biodiversity and food heritage • Research is needed to help the uptake by the food industry of nutrient-rich African foods adapting them to the preferences of the modern consumer, together with protection of IPR and respect of conformity with international norms and standards • Ensuring safety of home produced early childhood complementary feeding products • Efficient and safe food supply/retail systems for feeding urban population in mega- cities
- 24. Key messages • Importance of completing relevant national legal/normative frameworks • Community and household level compliance with regulations and control measures remains an issue in underserved communities • Contribution of ACE to training of front line health professionals can raise the quality of their functionality in crisis management • ACE project can benefit from a mutually beneficial networking with International and African food safety programs/plans • An underdeveloped preparedness and functionality of a national food safety system and/or weak legislative frameworks can limit the expected impact of well trained skilled professionals.
- 25. THANK YOU