Throughout the month of June, risk ranking workshops have been taking place in Mongolia, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Viet Nam, under the One Health and Food Safety (1HFS) project, which is supported by the Republic of Korea.

The workshops are the first part of a series of planned events in the four countries under the 1HFS project, which are designed to help address the complexities of our agrifood systems from a One Health approach. This requires the involvement of a range of stakeholders from across the human, animal, plant and ecosystem health sectors. Over five years, the project will support work on various elements of the risk analysis framework, with workshops on risk ranking, risk assessment, risk communication and table-top exercises on how to respond to foodborne outbreaks.

"The risk analysis framework is a good tool - developed by the Codex Alimentarius - to address foodborne risks. Risk ranking is the first step in that framework, and helps countries to develop policies," said Dr Myoengsin Choi, Coordinator of the IHFS Project.

Stakeholders from different sectors participated in the workshops, including representatives of ministries responsible for human health, animal health and food safety, as well as relevant laboratories, representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). During each workshop a multistakeholder One Health technical working group was established to ensure the work that was initiated during these sessions continues throughout the project cycle.

"Food safety is a paramount concern for public health in Viet Nam. In an increasingly diversified and complex food system, identifying and mitigating food safety hazards is extremely complicated,” said Dr Pham Cong Thieu, Director of the National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS), Viet Nam. “This project plays an important role in enhancing the governance of food safety and controlling foodborne diseases in Viet Nam."

The IHFS project began in 2023 and will run for five years, focusing on supporting Mongolia and Viet Nam in Asia, and Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania in Africa. Its aim is to harness the strengths of risk analysis developed by Codex, using the One Health approach to address food safety concerns in developing countries.

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One Health (FAO)
Codex Alimentarius