The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its second progress report on Global Trans-Fats Elimination 2020. The report highlights the progress of the world towards eliminating trans-fats from global food systems by 2023, recommends strategic priorities to this end and discusses challenges and opportunities for future action. India has one of the most coronary heart disease deaths due to trans fats is yet to take urgent action for eliminating the “harmful substances”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

In collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative by Vital Strategies, the WHO launched their second Progress Report on Global Trans Fat Elimination 2020 in a virtual event attended by over 300 people. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director-General, opened the launch event reminding the audience that the leading cause of deaths in the world, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), has not disappeared despite the current focus on containing the COVID-19 pandemic. He pointed out that the prevention of NCDs through interventions such as trans-fat elimination will benefit governments by reducing the burden to the healthcare system which is already under strain due to the ongoing pandemic.

Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death globally; approximately 17.9 million people lose their lives to them annually. In India, the Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD) has seen a four-fold rise during the past 40 years. As per the latest WHO Report on Global Trans Fat Elimination 2020, almost 5 of CHD death in India is due to TFA intake.

Fifteen countries account for approximately two-thirds of the worldwide deaths linked to trans fat intake. Of these, four (Canada, Latvia, Slovenia, United States of America) have implemented WHO-recommended best-practice policies since 2017, either by setting mandatory limits for industrially produced trans fats to 2% of oils and fats in all foods or banning partially hydrogenated oils (PHO). But the remaining 11 countries (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, and Republic of Korea) still need to take urgent action.

Moreover, two trends were highlighted in the report – adopting best-practice policies rather than the restrictive one and regional regulations. The WHO reported that 58 countries so far have introduced laws that will protect 3.2 billion people from the harmful trans-fats by the end of 2021. However, more than 100 countries still need to take actions to remove these harmful substances from their food supplies.

Since 2018, the World Health Organization has been raising awareness and supporting countries to eliminate industrially-produced trans fats by 2023 through the REPLACE action package and tracking global elimination progress over time. Increased intake of trans fat (>1% of total energy intake) is associated with increased risk of heart disease. Trans fat intake is responsible for more than 500,000 premature deaths worldwide from heart disease each year.