Civil society activists and other stakeholder in the health sector, including Members of Parliament, have called for the expeditious passing of the Food and Nutrition Bill that remains pending in Parliament.

The call comes at time Parliament is putting focus on food and health during the Parliamentary Week on Nutrition and Food security.

According to the stakeholders, there is urgent need to regulate what people eat in Uganda. They fear that many people will be exposed to contaminated food and other foodstuff unfit for human consumption which will contribute to the Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) burden in the country.

The relatively new Uganda Parliamentary Alliance on Food and Nutrition has kicked off the weeklong events under the Parliament Week of Food and Nutrition

Several stakeholders in the food and health sectors, drawn from the civil society are gracing the events of the week. They raised concern that many Ugandans are still unable to access food or even the right kind of food yet the country has not just plenty but a variety of food .

The Ministry of Health is moving to regulate what people eat. In many areas, especially urban areas, food vendors sell food even at the road side which compromises the quality of that food since it may be exposed to dust, flies and other elements.

Now stakeholders want Parliament to urgently process and pass the Food and Nutrition Bill which among others, provides for an agency to regulate food standards and free the National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) which is inadequate and is also underfunded. This bill has been in the offing since 2019.

The Uganda Parliamentary Alliance on Food and Nutrition is expected to present a report on the matter on the floor of Parliament on 23^rd May 2023.

Ramson