Nayrouz News Agency : Her Royal Highness Princess Salha bint Asem patronized on Tuesday the launch of a joint regional nutrition coordination meeting, organized by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The opening session of the meeting, which brought together regional representatives of member states, members of academic circles, United Nations agencies and international organizations, saw the launch of a database of food components in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which is a joint initiative between Al-Quds University and the organization’s regional office.
Princess Salha said that Jordan has achieved revolutionary improvements in the field of nutrition in recent decades, yet it is still suffering, like other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region, from a rapid nutritional transformation that has led to high rates of obesity and, subsequently, non-communicable diseases.
The local health authorities are working, in cooperation with WHO, to support healthy nutrition programs to reduce obesity rates and combat high blood pressure, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, she added.
Princess Salha pointed out that the launch of the National Nutrition Strategy for the year 2023-2030 and its executive framework are a clear embodiment of the commitment of the concerned governmental and non-governmental bodies to work diligently to achieve better levels of nutrition in line with the royal visions of achieving the desired economic and social development goals.
For his part, Director of the WHO Regional Office Ahmed Al Mandhari said in a speech, delivered on his behalf by the organization’s Regional Nutrition Advisor, that malnutrition in all its forms causes huge losses in the health of the population in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and their sustainable development, and the countries of the region are facing the double burden of malnutrition, as the region suffers from malnutrition and obesity becoming more prevalent day by day.