Prof. Eyal Leshem encourages harm reduction from respiratory, food-borne diseases

Prof. Eyal Leshem, the Director of the Institute for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel has encouraged harm reduction from respiratory and food-borne infectious diseases.

He made the remarks at the just-ended Health Harm Reduction Conference that was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 27 to 29 September 2023.

“Foodborne diseases are transmitted through the consumption of contaminated food. The global burden of foodborne diseases is substantial. Annually, there are 33 million deaths globally with 420 000 of the deaths being children under 5 years of age.

“Viruses lead to acute gastroenteritis (Norovirus, rotavirus, adenovirus) as well as Hepatitis A and E. Bacteria in food also lead to diarrheal diseases like salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter, cholera, and shigella. Lower respiratory infections (LRI) are also a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. In 2019, there were 488, 9 million cases that resulted in 2, 4 million deaths with the highest incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia,” Prof Leshem said.

He said most major respiratory pathogens are vaccine-preventable. These include pneumococcus, RSV, influenza, and Haemophilus influenza type B.

African Global Health, with the support of the African Union and the Africa CDC, aims to empower Africa to take the lead in spearheading South-South initiatives aimed at collaboratively achieving health sovereignty in Africa and throughout the world.

This will be achieved through Health Harm Reduction with a particular focus on water, environment, and food security in line with the relevant SDGs. With a commitment to collaboration, innovation, and equity, stakeholders envision a future where African nations not only achieve universal healthcare but also contribute their expertise and resources to uplift health systems across the global South.

This conference sought to promote strong collaborative work under the stewardship of African leaders and experts, both public and private progressing African health development; creating a common solidarity movement in which South-South expertise is mobilised and shared for continental sovereignty in health management.

There was an emphasis on collaboration and thought leadership between African countries to create unified pan-African evidence-based health policies, health and disaster preparedness frameworks, and application of technology and innovations.

There were calls to adopt a Pan-African Charter for Health Harm Reduction that incorporates medical, social, economic, and psychological factors related to population health in diverse African communities.

A resolution was also made to enable the fruitful and intensive joint work streams between experts from Africa and other continents open to establishing partnerships and Global Health Bureaus.