Sphere of influence: Campbell leads salt reduction across the Americas

Dr. Norm Campbell is taking his message about the dangers of eating too much salt from Canada to the whole Western Hemisphere.

Campbell, an internal medicine and hypertension specialist based at Calgary's Foothills Medical Centre, has been named chair of the Expert Group on Dietary Salt Reduction by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) – the North, South and Central American and Caribbean subsidiary of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"It's a big and important undertaking," says Campbell says about his role.

"If we lower daily salt consumption to less than 2,000 milligrams per person, we can prevent millions of deaths in the Americas, and with an investment of less than 50 cents per person per year," says Campbell.

The World Health Organization has called for reductions in dietary salt around the world. Campbell says reducing the amount of salt that companies can put in prepared foods has been estimated by several groups, including the WHO, as the most cost-effective intervention for governments to improve the health of their citizens.

His tenure as chair will last two years and his goals are ambitious.

He is aiming to get most governments in the Americas to develop policies and/or regulations to reduce dietary sodium to healthy levels, while educating health-care professionals and the public about the health risks of high dietary salt. He also hopes to convince the food industry to work with PAHO and national governments to reduce the amount of salt it puts in foods.

"In about 10 years, the aim is to have everyone at a healthy level of consumption," says Campbell, who wants to establish a monitoring system to ensure the goals are achieved.

According to the WHO, 2,000 milligrams of sodium – less than one teaspoon – is the most a person should consume in a day. Most countries in the Americas use the guidelines of the WHO.

Campbell indicates approximately 30 per cent of hypertension and 10 per cent of cardiovascular disease in Canada are caused by too much salt in food. Increased blood pressure is the leading risk for death in the world and the second leading risk for disability. Direct health care costs for high blood pressure are estimated to be eight to 10 per cent of the health care costs in the Americas and the indirect and direct costs for sub-optimal blood pressure in countries like Canada approximate 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Campbell initiated the recent effort to reduce salt in Canada in his role as Canada Chair in Hypertension Prevention and Control for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He will be reducing some activities to concentrate on his PAHO duties but he's not giving up his practice in the province.

"I'm still on call at the Foothills Medical Centre for general medicine," he says with a chuckle. "When I asked my bosses about it, they said it would keep me grounded."

The new job will mean a lot more work for Campbell, already an outspoken salt reduction advocate, but it is work he's eagerly anticipating.

"Personally it's quite exciting," he says. "I hope to learn a tremendous amount about the different cultures in the region. Improving the health of people outside of Canada will also be a tremendous educational and personal experience for me and I'm hoping the PAHO effort will also provide huge health benefits for Canadians by accelerating the Canadian effort to reduce dietary sodium."