Nutrition, Health and Economic Development; Policy Priorities and Intercultural Education for Achievable Social Justice and Human Rights Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa Dept. of Nutrition and Food Science University of Ghana, Legon Ghana

Food Security and Nutrition  Food security concerns dictates the pace of nutrition. This encompasses;  -Food availability  -Food accessibility  -Food affordability

Nutrition and Health Relations  Food intakes are necessary for meeting the nutrient and energy needs of man. Factors such as:  Occupation  Income –Believed to be the biggest contributor to health status.  Education

Nutrition and Health Relations  Adequate intake of nutrients is essential for maintaining adult health and productivity over the life span. As well, children’s development critically depends on the quality of diet that the household can afford.  Many studies in developing countries have shown that poor nutritional status is associated with reduced learning and hence low economic productivity.

Nutritional status and development  Poor nutritional status affects of growth and development.  Furthermore, poor physical development as a result of poor nutritional status can restrict brain growth, thereby hindering effective learning and cognitive development.  Healthier people have a greater potential for effective learning, which ultimately leads to high economic growth and development.

ICE and Cognitive Development  Learning is a complex process that is influenced by the stimulation received at home.  Learning in school is affected by three sets of factors.  -Regular school attendance.  - Stimulating school environment.  -Need for additional time at home to master the concepts introduced in school.

ICE and Cognitive Development (Contd)  Learning is a cumulative process.  Children with excessive household responsibilities are likely to complete fewer years of education.  Skilled labour is critical for economic growth and cognitive development.

Let’s Agree on the Terms

Health  “Not merely the absence of disease but the presence of physical, psychological, social economic and spiritual well being”  “The harmonious balance of mind, body and spirit”

Equity  Justice according to natural law or right  Freedom from bias or favoritism

Justice  The quality of fairness  The principle of moral rightness; equity  Conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude

Social Justice  The application of principles of justice to the broadest definition of society  Implies –Equity –Equal access to societal power, goods and services  Universal respect for human and civil rights

Human Rights: A higher order right MORALLY based and UNIVERSAL. It belongs to all persons equally because they are human beings (Declaration of Independence)

The Right to Health  The International Declaration of Human Rights “Everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of his family including food, clothing, housing and medical care”  “The time has come to herald human rights as both the foundation of public health and the compass of public policy”

The Right to Health  The existence of health disparities concentrated among specific racial groupings is a violation of United Nations covenants, international principles of human rights and all principles of universal justice.  This calls for policies that will positively influence peaceful home situations at both regional and national levels.

A Call to Action: Advancing Health For All Through Social and Economic Change  People with higher income enjoy healthier longer life  Disease and death rates are higher in populations that have a greater gap in income  People are healthiest when they feel safe  People are healthiest when they feel their job is secure

Some Concluding Thoughts

What Do We Know  There is a direct relationship between poverty, nutrition and health outcomes  Disparities in nutritional status and health are linked to disparities in economic development.  Health equity and social justice are inseparable.  Physical and intellectual developments are intertwined with levels of nutrition.

What To Do: Policies Priorities For Social Justice and Human Rights  Short term and long term solutions  Short term –Attention to food security, good nutrition and physical activity. –Create a good balance between good nutritional status, good health and economic development. –Provision of adequate teaching and learning facilities in developing countries for effective teaching and learning. –To institute good and meaningful intercultural educational policies especially the mass media.

Policies: Long term ….  Expand focus on the effects of public policy on the health of those suffering inequities –Welfare reform –Housing and development –Job development and health insurance –Provide good and adequate health facilities as well as improvements in the mass media at both regional and national. –The integration of human rights education into all levels of academic and professional training curriculum.

Conclusion….  Many factors promote economic development, among which nutritional status, population health and intercultural education are of critical importance.  Developing countries need to devise different strategies for increasing prosperity, depending on their level of economic and social development.  Policy makers need to devise specific policies for their country, taking into account the nutritional and health status of their populations, the environmental conditions, and the educational infrastructure.

Conclusion….  In most African countries, poor nutritional status and inadequate educational infrastructure is hampering economic growth and development.  Without better nutrition, health and educational policies, many of the poor countries are unlikely to escape from the poverty trap in the foreseeable future and hence economic development will continue to be hampered.

What we are willing to turn our backs on, ignore or deny, is the measure of our willingness to live as hypocrites and deny the core value of ethics in our daily practice of public health and economic development through intercultural education.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to thank the Organizers of UNESCO 2003 for the invitation and also the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the sponsorship.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION