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PROGRAM
AGAINST MICRONUTRIENT
MALNUTRITION
The Problem
- A Human Tragedy and Socio-Economic Stagnation
Small amounts of essential vitamins (vitamin A and folic acid)
and minerals (iodine, iron and zinc) are required by the human
body for normal, healthy growth and development. More than half
the world's population throughout the economic spectrum, inboth
urban and rural settings, do not consume enough of these nutrients
in their diet. Micronutrient deficiencies impair intelligence,
strength and energy sapping much needed vitality, productivity
and initiative from economic development.
Correcting deficiencies in micronutrient deficient
populations can improve the population- wide IQ by 10-15 IQ points,
reduce maternal deaths by one third, decrease infant and childhood
mortality by 40%, increase in strength and work capacity by 40%,
eliminate nutritional blindness and endemic cretinism and dramatically
reduce birth defects, stillbirths and congenital deafness. Action
to control population growth is vital for national and global
prosperity. Ensuring mothers and infants have sufficient micronutrients
will dramatically increase the vitality, viability and intellectual
capacity of future generations. Hence, a comprehensive population
program will focus not only on the number of children born, but
on the quality of the children born. The elimination of micronutrient
malnutrition is a development bargain because it brings such great
socio-economic returns at such little cost.
Investments in education will not be maximized
unless school children have grown up with adequate amounts of
micronutrients. Their learning capability and educational achievements
depend upon children being vital and operating with full intellectual
capacity. It is known that when micronutrients are lacking in
the diets of children their school performance is greatly diminished.
The
Solution - The Health and Socio-Economic
Bargain of the Century
In the past, these deficiencies have been approached as individual
medical cases rather than as population-wide problems. The human
tragedy and socio-economic stagnation caused by micronutrient
malnutrition can be greatly alleviated by fortifying commonly
purchased foods or condiments. Population groups not reached may
then be protected through the distribution of inexpensive capsules.
Diets can also be diversified to include micronutrient rich foods.
Each strategy offers distinct advantages in terms of costs and
efficacy in reaching specific populations. The best mix of these
solutions depends on conditions in each country. Food fortification
offers the greatest benefit/cost solution in the long term.
In 1994 the World Bank said.....
...The
Control of vitamin and mineral deficiencies is one of the most
extrodinary development-relatedscientific advances of recent
years. Probably no other technology today offers as large an
opportunity to improve lives and accerlate development at such
a low cost and in such a short time. Deficiencies of just vitamin
A, iodine and iron could wasteas much as 5% of gross domestic
product, but addressing them comprehensively and sustainability
would cost less than 0.3% of the gross domestic product...
It is a tragedy that in 1998 there are such widespread
deficiencies when these deficiencies could be eliminated in people
for just a few pennies. Yet, most people are unaware of the magnitude
of the problem, or how they could contribute to its elimination.
The wider education and commitment of all key public-private and
civic sectors is a central tenant of this proposal.
Additional information on micronutrient malnutrition
and its prevention measures can be found on the PAMM web pages.
These are materials developed by the students of the "Elimination
of Micronutrient Malnutrition - Public Nutritional Management"
class (IH552) at the Rollins School of Public Health. The
IH552
class description is also available on the web.
The Program
The
Program Against Micronutrient Malnutrition (PAMM) is a multi-disciplinary
team that engineers innovative solutions with public health officials
worldwide to end hidden hunger through participatory training,
customized technical support and strategic alliance building.
PAMM is dedicated to the global goal of elimination
of micronutrient malnutrition by the year 2000; and serves to
escalate the application of proven technologies, knowledge and
information to improve the micronutrient status of populations;
to advocate for effective public policy; and, to develop, promote
and sustain quality assurance systems that preserve the success
of elimination once achieved.
Programs are supported, in part, by the United
Nations Children's Fund, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
United States Agency for International Development, the Micronutrient
Initiative, Procter & Gamble, Hubert Fund and the International
Life Sciences Institute.
Programs are supported, in part, by the United
Nations Children's Fund, Dutch
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United
States Agency for International Development, the Micronutrient
Initiative, Procter
& Gamble, Hubert Fund and the International
Life Sciences Institute.
PAMM
Institutional Collaborators
CARE
Rollins School
of Public Health
Wageningen Agricultural
University
U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
International
Agricultural Centre in The Netherlands
The Task Force
for Child Survival and Development
Contact
PAMM
PAMM, Department of International Health
Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University
1518 Clifton Road, NE - 7th Floor
Atlanta, Georgia, USA 30322
FAX: 404-727-4590
Email: pammusa@sph.emory.edu
Source: http://www.sph.emory.edu/PAMM/
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