Islamabad (Web Desk): On World Patient Safety Day and ahead of World Alzheimer’s Day, a strategic media awareness workshop was held in Islamabad for young journalists under the public health campaign TRANSFORM Pakistan.
Pakistan Youth Change Advocates (PYCA) leads the campaign, with support from food authorities and civil society actors such as the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, Heartfile, and Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH).
The workshop was designed to equip journalists with the knowledge and tools to report on food policy, regulatory developments and the public-health consequences of hazardous industrial trans fats and Partially Hydrogenated Oils (PHOs).
“Industrial trans fats and PHOs are a leading, yet often overlooked, contributor to Pakistan's rising burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which happen to be the focus of this year’s World Patient Safety Day,” shared Huria Tariq, Program Implementation Lead at PYCA, while introducing the workshop objectives to the participants.
Conducting the keynote session on the occasion, Munawar Hussain, Nutrition and Food Policy Expert, explained why PHO elimination matters.
“The partial hydrogenation of edible oils is the principal process through which industrial trans fats are created. These artificial trans fats have no known health benefits but significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, various types of cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, stroke and infertility,” he said.
Munawar further noted that, between 2023 and 2026, industrial trans fats were associated with 45,000 deaths and economic losses amounting to USD 1.3 billion in Pakistan. PHOs are the single largest source contributing to the production of industrial trans fats.
Dr. Saba Amjad, CEO of Heartfile, presenting the key highlights from Heartfile’s recent study on the high prevalence of iTFAs in street food, noted, “Bakery products and banaspati-based fats remain significant contributors to dietary trans-fat exposure across Pakistan’s food supply.”
Afshar Iqbal, Director Communications & Advocacy at PYCA, expounded upon how commercial interests play a role in policy debates “It is pivotal to ensure that the food produced is safe and free from trans fats for the consumption of all citizens irrespective of their geography and socio-economic background,” he said.
Speaking at the conclusion of the session, Areebah Shahid, Executive Director of PYCA, emphasised the media’s role in advancing informed public debate.
She said that journalists have a vital role in translating complex food-policy and public-health issues into information that policymakers, legislators and the general public can understand and act upon.
“Through TRANSFORM Pakistan, we want to support a stronger, evidence-based conversation on industrial trans fats and PHOs, while encouraging greater accountability and policy action to ensure that preventable health risks are addressed at their source,” the PYCA executive director asserted.