A CONTRIBUTION TO THE SANITARY POLICY DISCUSSION: DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH ON DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

CABRAL PÉREZ M; AGNESE AM

Córdoba

Congreso; Congreso Latinoamericano de Salud Pública. VIII Jornadas Internacionales de Salud Pública.; 2012

Escuela de Salud Pública, UNC

Dietary supplements (DS) are defined in Argentina as products destined to increase the habitual dietary intake supplementing the nutrient incorporation in healthy people diet that without any pathological condition present basic dietary needs not satisfied or bigger than usual. Lots of DS are directly imported from the USA or European Union (EU). That is why it is very important to know the legal framework that regulates them in those places. DS can contain different nutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc) and other ingredients (i.e. herbs). Nutritional functions of the first are known but in the case of herbs attributed properties to them are mostly pharmacological, not nutritive. As objectives it was set to evaluate the appropriateness of the DS with herbs inclusion in the food category or if they are medicines, in order to contribute with scientific arguments to the possible adaptation of the current legislation; to analyze and to compare the Argentine current legislation in relation to the USA and EU ones and to identify the DS amount that are marketed in Argentina and have herbs in their composition. A qualitative type of approach it is proposed by using documentary research techniques in order to know the current legal framework. At the same time, to develop a survey to experts. Additionally, it will be looking for context information into the data base BIREME, SciELO, LILACS, MEDLINE. Besides, and by a transversal study, the available information in data base coming from the pharmaceutical industry and ANMAT will be analyzed to quantify the marketed DS with herbs nowadays.