Dr Regina Murphy Keith, Course Leader for Global Public Health Nutrition MSc at the University of Westminster, has called on nurses to use their voice to support the fight to end food insecurity and hunger across the globe in an article for the Royal College of Nursing.
In the article she focuses on the challenges facing the world with regards to reaching global targets for hunger set by the United Nations in 2015 when they announced their 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. The Global Nutrition Targets were set by the World Health Assembly to be achieved by 2025, supported by the UN Decade of Nutrition. Despite international efforts, she highlights that currently the globe is off track from reaching these targets.
She lists multiple worrying statistics that emphasise the lack of progress. For example, she said: “In 2021, an estimated 828 million people went to bed hungry, while around 2.3 billion people suffered from food insecurity” and “Globally, over 2 billion people will die without having access to formal health care and 3.1 billion people cannot afford to eat a healthy diet.”
After reflecting on the challenges, she looks towards the future and suggests what can be done to make a positive impact.
She said: “My research indicates that including community voices in planning does help to improve health and nutrition outcomes, as does reducing inequity and taking an intersectoral approach in seeking these goals – that is, working across sectors and societies to take shared action on hunger.”
Dr Murphy Keith’s article and her ongoing work contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2: Zero Hunger. Since 2016 Dr Murphy Keith’s MSc course has put the SDGs holistically into its teaching and assessments. Westminster is committed to using the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
The University will also host the World Public Health Nutrition Congress 2024 between 10-13 June exploring the theme Questioning the Solutions: Has the Decade of Nutrition Delivered?
Read the full article on Royal College of Nursing.
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