*EPF414 05/09/2002
Text: Global Nutrition Program Launched at Children's Summit
(Eliminating vitamin, mineral deficiencies is goal, USAID says) (560)

Eliminating vitamin and mineral deficiencies to save lives and improve health is the goal of an initiative announced May 9 by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at the U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Children.

USAID will contribute $8 million to support the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), joining other private and public sector partners in the effort to make vitamin-fortified foods more widely available.

A press release issued in New York by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said that eliminating vitamin deficiencies would help better protect developing world populations from malaria, measles and diarrheal disease.

A special Web site devoted to the special session on children is available at http://www.un.org/ga/children/

Following is the text of the USAID press release:

(begin text)

U.S. MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS

May 9, 2002

USAID LEADS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERS TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND SAVE LIVES THROUGH FOOD FORTIFICATION

New York, May 9 -- At the United Nations Special Session on Children, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) joined the Gates Foundation and other global partners at the launch of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a coalition of public and private sector partners committed to saving lives and improving health by eliminating vitamin and mineral deficiencies in developing countries.

USAID has pledged $8 million in support of GAIN, which will provide support to address country-identified needs such as creating strategies to promote fortified foods, developing safe and acceptable food products, and training food companies in fortification technology. Over the next 5 years, $70 million is committed to GAIN activities, and an estimated $20-$25 million will be available in the first year of operation.

"GAIN is an excellent example of the public and private sectors working together for global change," said Andrew S. Natsios, USAID Administrator. "GAIN will serve as a catalyst to mobilize the efforts, expertise and resources of the public and corporate sectors, toward the shared vision of reducing malnutrition caused by vitamin and mineral deficiency."

With USAID's contribution, GAIN will support developing countries in their efforts to implement locally designed food fortification strategies. Vitamin and mineral deficiency -- also known as micronutrient deficiency -- exacts a devastating and often deadly toll on especially the poorest countries and particularly on women and children. Using proven and cost-effective strategies for reducing micronutrient deficiencies, GAIN will: decrease child and maternal mortality; reduce crippling healthcare costs; and boost intellectual and physical potential and national productivity.

"More than two billion people -- mostly women and children -- suffer from micronutrient deficiencies," said Dr. Anne Peterson, Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID. "Increased micronutrient intake has been shown to reduce the severity of infectious diseases common in the developing world, such as malaria, measles and diarrheal disease. Most significantly, increased vitamin A intake has been shown to reduce child mortality by 30 percent."

Well-designed food fortification programs not only dramatically improve health; they reduce escalating costs in national healthcare and boost intellectual potential and domestic productivity.

GAIN is one of many initiatives that USAID supports each year in the area of global health. USAID's total FY2002 budget for global health is $1.6 billion.

USAID is the government agency that has provided humanitarian assistance and economic development worldwide for more than 40 years.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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