World Salt Awareness Week, 14-20 March, 2022

This year, World Salt Awareness Week 2022 will take place 14 - 20 March, and will shine a spotlight on a simple yet effective approach that we can all take to improve our health – by shaking the salt habit! As part of the activities to mark the week, the Pan American Health Organization is hosting on Tuesday 15 March the webinar "Progress in the Region about Strategies for the Reduction of Salt Consumption".

The objectives of the webinar are:

• Present PAHO’s tools to support salt reduction initiatives in the Region such as the policy mapping and the new interactive tool on country progress in promoting cost-effective interventions based on interventions of WHO´s SHAKE package and the updated regional sodium reduction targets.
• Present the latest and most significant progress in the Region regarding policies to reduce salt consumption.
• Present the results of the analysis carried out in the Region on the economic effects of salt reduction policies.

How to participate

• DATE: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
• TIME: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EDT [check below local times]
• REGISTER: https://paho-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OqWAw6tYQc6-p_jZCUBHcw
• LANGUAGES: English and Spanish with interpretation to both languages

Recording

PORTUGUESE SPANISH

Introduction

We have known for some time now that too much salt can harm our health, leading to unnecessary deaths from heart attacks and strokes. Salt reduction is accepted globally as a cost effective strategy to improve public health.

Salt reduction policies targeted specifically at the food industry are necessary and relevant: about three quarters of the salt is already in packaged and prepared foods.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) supports this global campaign to join forces with the international community and aim for World Salt Awareness Week to promote further policy actions to reduce salt consumption in our Region and protect health in the population.

Member States have agreed to reduce the world's salt consumption by 30% by 2025[1], but the Region is not yet on track to meet this target and the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation.

In this webinar, policy actions taken by Member States will be shared together with technical tools to facilitate the development and implementation of comprehensive policies for salt reduction. One of these tools is the new set of updated PAHO Regional Sodium Reduction Targets developed in collaboration with the University of Toronto and launched in October, 2022. These targets include maximum thresholds for 75 subcategories, which fall under 16 food category headings.

Agenda

• 10:30 AM – 10:40 AM - Welcome and opening remarks 

  • Audrey Morris. Regional Advisor, Food and Nutrition – PAHO

  • Fabio Gomes Da Silva. Regional Advisor on Nutrition and Physical Activit, PAHO

• 10:40 AM- 10:50 AM - The updated PAHO Regional Sodium Reduction Targets

  • Fabio Gomes Da Silva. Regional Advisor on Nutrition and Physical Activit, PAHO

• 10:50 AM– 11:00 AM - Sodium contents in processed and ultra-processed foods in Trinidad & Tobago

  • Ravi Rampersad and Shiva Deokiesingh. Independent Consultants – Trinidad & Tobago

• 11:00 AM– 11:10 AM - Policy actions to reduce salt consumption in Trinidad & Tobago

  • Michelle Ash. Chief Nutritionist, Ministry of Health – Trinidad & Tobago

• 11:10 AM– 11:25 AM - Economic Effects of Sodium Reduction policies in Brazil

  • Eduardo Nilsson. Ministry of Health, Brazil

• 11:25 AM– 11:40 AM - Fostering progress in the implementation of sodium reduction policies

  • Lorena Allemandi and Maria Bustamante. Nutrition Consultants – PAHO

• 11:40 AM– 11:55 AM - Q&A

• 11:55 AM– 12:00 PM - Final comments and closing

Time correspondence

For other cities, check the time in the following link

Please note that the United States changes the summer time on March 13, but as other countries do not change it, the time difference may vary with respect to the usual difference.

•   7:30 am.– Los Ángeles, Vancouver
•   8:30 am. – Belmopan, Guatemala City, México City,  Managua, San José (CR), San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
•  9:30 am. – Bogota, Kingston, Lima, Panama City, Quito
•  10:30 am. –  Bridgetown, Caracas, Castries, Georgetown, Havana, La Paz, Nassau, Ottawa, Port-au-Prince, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Washington DC 
•   11:30 am  – Asunción, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo, Santiago
•    3:30 pm. – Geneva, Madrid

RELATED MATERIALS

Download more GIFs

Download Publication