Geneva (dpa) - The head of the World Health Organization, Margaret
Chan, said Monday that the global economic crisis was causing people
to ditch healthy foods that this would lead to health problems.
"When money is tight, the first thing that drop out of the diets
are the healthy foods," said Chan, adding that these are "almost
always more expensive" than processed items.
This was particularly true in the developing world, where chronic
diet related diseases were on the rise, she noted.
Chan also warned about the welfare of the world's poorest who were
most vulnerable to the slightest shifts in the global economy.
"One billion are living on the margins of survival- it does not
take much to push them over the brink," she said.
The swine flu pandemic which is spreading around the world could
also have a "devastating impact" on the poorer economies, where
health care systems are weaker.
She called for "fairness" in restructured global financial and
economic systems. Furthermore, government budgets should put a
greater focus on developing their health systems.
"The price of failure keeps getting bigger and bigger," she said
about the lack of development for medical infrastructure and
services.
Copyright 2009 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH