Foodborne diseases are a major cause of human morbidity and mortality. According to the first-ever WHO global estimates produced with support of the WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG 2007-2015), foodborne diseases caused 600 million illnesses, 420 000 deaths, and 33 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2010. The FERG for a period of 2021-2024 was reconvened in May 2021, and the first meeting was held to situate the work in July 2021 (link to the 1st meeting event page).
The 2nd meeting was held virtually on 19, 21, 26, 28 October and 2 November 2021, and aimed to advance the development of the 3-year strategic work plan for the FERG 2021-2024 towards finalization by December 2021 for the following activities, including global estimation of the burden of foodborne diseases; development and validation of global food safety indicators and targets; and country support for estimating the national burden of foodborne diseases.
Specific objectives are to:
- Agree on the updated FERG governance model, including structure, roles, functions and COI policy
- Share a progress update from all FERG taskforces and WHO
- Discuss required or beneficial collaborations within and beyond WHO
- Agree on the template and a detailed plan of action toward developing the complete workplan by December 2021, including the objectives and scope
- Discuss the need and plan to commission work externally
- Discuss and agree on the outline of the computational framework