Webinar: Advances in the Region about Strategies for the Reduction of Salt Consumption

Photo of a brown table seen from above with a couple of hands holding spices recipients and framed by an array of vegetables of different colors

As part of the activities prepared to mark Salt Awareness Week, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is organizing the webinar: "Advances in the Region about Strategies for the Reduction of Salt Consumption", to be held on Thursday, 11 March 2021, to showcase the advances in the Region of the Americas in salt reduction and the tools made available by PAHO on the topic.

The session is aimed to health professionals, ministries, other governmental entities, researchers, and civil society organizations working in advocacy in the Region to promote policies for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases in general, and salt intake reduction in particular.

During the webinar, the four strategies identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce salt/sodium intake will be hightlighted. These are:

1) Reformulation of foodstuffs to contain less salt and setting salt content targets in food and meals;
2) Creating an enabling environment in public institutions, such as hospitals, schools, workplaces, and residences so that options with less sodium content can be proposed;
3) Media campaigns to encourage behavior change;
4) The introduction of front of pack labeling to help consumers identify products with high salt content.

How to participate

DATE: Thursday, 11 March, 2021
TIME 10:30 am- 12:00 pm (EST) [check the time correspondence in your area at the bottom of the page]
REGISTER: https://paho-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9OjKnQpST-uh7AQner3pyQ
- After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the webinar
LANGUAGE: The session will have simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.
LIVE BROADCAST: In case the Zoom room is not available, you can follow the webinar live on the PAHO´s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/PAHOTV

Live broadcast - (English audio)

Webinar objectives:

Present the Region's policy mapping and PAHO's new interactive tool on country progress in promoting cost-effective interventions based on interventions of WHO´s SHAKE package.
Socialize social marketing experiences of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Present the results of the analysis carried out in the Region on the sodium content in street products.

Panelists

Leo Nederveen .- Advisor Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity in Schools – PAHO (Moderator)

Nadia Flexner.- Nutrition Consultant for PAHO and Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Toronto, Department of Nutrition Sciences, Canada

Mahmooda Khaliq Pasha.- College of Public Health, WHO Collaborating Center on Social Marketing, University of South Florida – United States of America

Adriana Blanco-Metzler.- Costa Rican Institute for Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (INCIENSA), Costa Rica

Lorena Saavedra.- Nutricionist, Universidad Cayetano Heredia, Peru

Preliminary Agenda

10:30 AM – 10:40 AM – Opening and Welcome
Rosa Sandoval – Head of the Risk and Nutrition Factors Unit, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
10:40 AM – 10:55 AM – Progress in salt consumption reduction policies in the Americas
Nadia Flexner - Nutrition Consultant, PAHO
10:55 AM – 11:10 AM – Experiences in social marketing strategies in the Region
Mahmooda Pasha, University of South Florida, EEUU
11:10 AM – 11:25 AM – Development of a social marketing strategy to reduce the consumption of discretionary salt in Peruvian families
Lorena Saavedra, Universidad Cayetano Heredia, Perú
11:25 AM – 11:40 AM – What is the sodium content of street, artisanal and fast foods in Latin American countries?
Adriana Blanco-Metzler –Costa Rican Institute for Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (INCIENSA), Costa Rica
11:40 AM – 11:55 AM – Questions and answers
11:55 PM – 12:00 PM – Final comments and closure

Time correspondence

7:30 am.– Los Angeles
09:30 am – Belmopan, Guatemala City , Mexico City, Managua, San José (CR), San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
10:30 am– Kingston, Nassau, Washington DC
11:30 am. – Bridgetown, Castries, Georgetown, Port of Spain, San Juan
12:30 pm. – Brasilia, Paramaribo
4:30 pm. – Geneva, Madrid

For other cities, check the time in the folloing link