Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)

In the afternoon roundtable session on nutrition in the post-2015 development agenda, Co-Chair Anne Peniston, USAID, stressed the links between good nutrition and long-term economic development.

Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University, pointed out that sending a nutrition recommendation for inclusion in the UN Secretary-General’s report on the Open Working Group on the SDGs would be “extremely timely.”

Eduardo Jaramillo Navarrete, Undersecretariat of Prevention and Health Promotion of the Secretariat of Health, Mexico, noted his country’s promotion of integrated health services, banning food that is harmful to health, and establishing co-responsibility between private and public institutions.

Eva Martos, National Public Health and Medical Officer Service, Hungary, called for broader consideration of nutrition in the post-2015 development agenda and said governments have a key role to play in establishing proper conditions for equal, accessible and affordable nutrition.

Jean-Pierre Halkin, Rural Development, Food and Nutrition Security EC, emphasized that the nutrition discussion has changed from looking at the immediate consequences of nutrition to addressing long-term consequences and urged bringing this into the post-2015 debate.

Sania Nishtake, Director, Heartfile, and Co-Chair, WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity, emphasized that: tracking NCDs is necessary for sustainable development; undernutrition is a risk factor for developing NCDs later in life; and NCD policy goes hand in hand with environmental sustainability.

In the roundtable on coherence between economic policies and healthy changes in diets, Corinna Hawkes, World Cancer Research Fund, stressed that advancing nutrition objectives also advances economic objectives. Arthur Chioro, Minister of Health, Brazil, said the right to health should be respected. In Brazil, he said, more diseases are chronic, rather than acute or due to deprivation, and noted NCDs as the main cause of death.

Leo Varadkar, Minister of Health, Ireland, described the Healthy Ireland framework requiring interagency, interdepartmental and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Franco Sassi, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, argued that government policies that improve nutritional quality and access to food would not hinder the pursuit of economic goals or be detrimental to development.

Vinita Bali, Leader Group/Member – SUN, discussed coherence between private sector objectives and healthy diets, and whether it has been able to readjust its policies to this end.