Experts call for cross-sectoral collaboration to tackle disease risks in changing food systems

The rapid transformation of food systems is creating unintentional infectious disease risks that will need to be addressed through effective coordination between agricultural and public health sectors, a new review study says.

The review, published in Lancet Planetary Health (Sept 2022), explored how intensification of agricultural production and increasing complexity of food supply chains, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, change the risks and relative burdens of infectious diseases.

The review covered four case studies:

• vector-borne disease in irrigated agriculture;
• zoonotic diseases in livestock value chains;
• food safety; and
• antimicrobial resistance associated with food systems.

For each case study, the authors asked three questions:

• What aspects of food system transition are creating unintentional infectious disease risks?
• What solutions might exist for these problems?
• How would they require better coordination of agricultural and public health policy and practice?

Citation

Waage, J., Grace, D., Fèvre, E.M., McDermott, J., Lines, J., Wieland, B., Naylor, N.R., Hassell, J.M. and Chan, K. 2022. Changing food systems and infectious disease risks in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet Planetary Health 6(9): e760–e768.

Photo credit: Fruit and vegetables on sale alongside other food items in a local market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ILRI/Geraldine Klarenberg)