At health confab in Rome: Cameroon drums level field for int’l standards on health, food safety.

This was during the World Conference on the Application of the “One Health” Approach in Agrifood Systems. It was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, in Rome.

Addressing senior FAO officials, ministers and ambassadors, Dr Taïga stressed on the close interdependence between human, animal, plant and environmental health. 

He said international instruments, including the Codex Alimentarius, standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health, phytosanitary standards and the International Health Regulations, provide a common framework for managing risks across the agrifood chain.

The minister explained that Cameroon is located in the Congo Basin which is characterised by five agroecological zones, as such it is exposed to a range of zoonotic risks.

The minister cited anthrax outbreaks and the mortality of great apes in the Dja Reserve in 2005 as events that contributed to the country’s development of a national strategy to combat emerging and re-emerging zoonoses under the Emerging Pandemic Threats programme.

He explained that the strategy has since evolved into an institutional framework centred on the National Programme for the Prevention and Control of Emerging and Re-emerging Zoonoses, PNPLZER, which serves as Cameroon’s national “One Health” platform under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office and brings together several government ministries.

The framework, Dr Taïga explained, is supported by the Agency for Standards and Quality, ANOR, which references more than 3,200 standards across 34 sectors. 

The minister noted that Cameroon homologated 113 standards covering livestock and fish farming in 2024 and 25 standards related to food technology in 2025.

At the operational level, he stated that the system relies on veterinary services, the National Veterinary Laboratory, the Animal Epidemiological Surveillance Network, RESCAM and the Animal Health Emergency Coordination Centre.

Dr Taïga went further to outline three key lessons: standards must be adapted to national realities while maintaining international coherence; their implementation requires strong political ownership and sustained cross-sectoral coordination; and their credibility depends on operational capacities, including laboratories, surveillance systems, preparedness plans, skilled personnel and adequate financing.

He noted that there is need for a shift from the mere existence of standards to their measurable implementation, while urging greater international cooperation and solidarity to strengthen the resilience of agrifood systems and food safety.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3920 of Friday September 25, 2026