Rohit Deo
14 May, 2021, 7:30 am
(Standing middle, L-R) Dr Gade Waqa, Dr Donald Wilson and Dr Jacqui Webster with other collaborative members. Picture: SUPPLIED
The current average daily salt intake in Fiji is 11.7 grams, which is more than twice the World Health Organisation recommended level of five grams a day.
This, according to a collaborative research project by the Fiji National University that states a minimal government investment in reducing salt intake could prevent 234 heart attacks and 72 strokes, resulting in 131 Fijian lives saved, and saving the government nearly $2million each year.
The study – ‘The Potential Impact of Salt Reduction in Fiji’ – was carried out by Health Technology Analysts as part of a collaboration between the Pacific Research Centre for the Prevention of Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (C-POND), a WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention and Management at the Fiji Institute of Pacific Health Research (FIPHR), the research arm of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) and leading Australian universities.