ASEAN's liberalisation to affect people's health

BANGKOK, January 15 (TNA) - Free flows of trade and other liberalisation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may affect citizens’ dietary patterns and health due to narrower space for upholding public health standards. Dr. Anne Marie Thow from University of Sydney, a public health policy expert and a keynote speaker at an annual meeting in Bangkok on “dealing with unhealthy diet in the era of AEC:Is Thailand ready?”, told TNA on Tuesday that the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 would lead to less consumption of traditional food, as more investment by each member country in domestic agricultural and food marketing projects should result in more consumption of processed food, which should increase the problem of obesity and other non-communicable diseases among regional citizens subsequently. Thow, who is also an experienced health policy lecturer, acknowledged that taxing unhealthy food products has been proven effective in changing food prices and consumers' behaviors; thus, options for ASEAN governments could vary from reorganizing duty structure and certain trade and investment agreements, with public nutrition and health taken into account, to imposing higher costs on food safety control, particularly those on food imports or even sales bans. Program organiser Siriya Phulkerd, meanwhile, suggested that Thailand and other ASEAN member countries need a number of research projects on impacts of the regional liberalisation on people's health, while concerned personnel also need to be more aware of the issue in order to keep pace with the changing dietary trends with immediate response in terms of updated health policies. Organised by Thailand’s International Health Policy Program, Tuesday's annual meeting also served as a platform for the presentations of relevant research projects and findings regarding what have happened to people’s health around the world, caused by the signing of free trade initiatives. (TNA)