REGISTER HERE
Join us on Thursday, May 14, at 10:00 a.m. (Washington, DC time or EST) on the event "Salt Awareness Week 2026". In this webinar, we will present country experiences in implementing front-of-package labelling and sodium-reduction targets, as well as tools for applying social marketing to sodium reduction.
Objectives of the webinar
- Share PAHO/WHO´s tools for sodium reduction.
- Share experiences from countries in the Region of the Americas on the implementation of mandatory policies for sodium reduction.
How to participate
- DATE: Thursday, May 14, 2026
- TIME: 10:00 a.m. (Washington, DC time or EST) [Check at the end of the page the time in other cities]
- LANGUAGES: Spanish and English, with simultaneous interpretation in those languages
- REGISTER: https://paho-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z5JwNG9uTH62IrsN7CrvCA#/registration
Agenda
Moderator: Fabio da Silva Gomes, Regional Advisor, Nutrition and Physical Activity, PAHO
10:00 a.m. Welcome and introduction
- Vanessa García Larsen, PAHO
10.05 a.m. Best practices on front-of-package labelling in the Americas
- Fabio da Silva Gomes, PAHO
10.20 a.m. Panel: Country experiences on monitoring and enforcing front-of-package labelling in the Americas
10.50 a.m. A compendium guide for applying social marketing to the development of health interventions
- Mahmooda Pasha, USF
11:05 a.m. Health impact analysis of sodium reduction policies
- Eduardo Nilson, Fiocruz Institute
11:20 a.m. Case study of implementation and evaluation of sodium targets in Colombia
11:50 a.m. Panel: Supporting the Implementation of Sodium Targets in the Americas from the Civil Society Perspective
- Costa Rica Saludable, Costa Rica
- Movimiento Alimentación Saludable, Panamá
- Organización Multidisciplinaria para la Integración Social (OMIS), Uruguay
12:20 Closing remarks
Context
Salt Awareness Week 2026 will take place from 11 to 17 May. Excessive salt consumption increases the risk of hypertension, the main cause of stroke and ischemic heart disease. Salt awareness week serves as a timely reminder of the harmful effects and health risks associated with high salt intake and brings attention to the unnecessarily high levels of salt in everyday foods. There are effective population-level measures that governments can take to support sodium intake reduction, including reformulation policies to reduce sodium, front-of-pack warning labelling, public food procurement and service policies, behavior change communication campaigns, and policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing. Additionally, the World Health Organization´s (WHO) guidance supports the implementation of taxes on foods high in sodium, as well as replacing table salt with lower-sodium salt substitutes (LSSS) that contain potassium for adults in the general population.
PAHO supports Salt Awareness Week by joining efforts with the international community and promoting policy actions to reduce salt intake in the Region of the Americas and protect public health. PAHO provides technical assistance to Member States in the Region of the Americas to implement the WHO´s SHAKE technical package, which provides a strategic framework to reduce sodium intake from all sources, including prepackaged food, meals consumed outside the home, and discretionary salt use.
Time in other cities
- 7:00 a.m. – Los Angeles, Vancouver.
- 8:00 a.m. - Belmopan, Guatemala City, Managua, Mexico City, San Salvador, San José (Costa Rica), Tegucigalpa.
- 9:00 a.m. - Bogotá, Kingston, Lima, Panama City, Quito,
- 10:00 a.m. - Havana, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Ottawa, Washington D.C., Bridgetown, Caracas, Georgetown, La Paz, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Saint George's, Saint John's (Antigua), Santiago.
- 11:00 a.m. – Asunción, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo.
- 4:00 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid.
For other cities, check the local times in the following link.