GAIN calls on leaders to invest in Maternal and Child Nutrition to reach the MDGs Statement by Marc Van Ameringen Executive Director
World Breastfeeding Week 1 - 7 August
Geneva, 30 July 2010, As we celebrate World Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August, we are reminded that exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life is the corner stone of child survival, said Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). It provides young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development and it is one of the most cost effective public health investments. As such, it deserves wide support from politicians, governments and donors.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have placed maternal and newborn health on the international agenda yet one in four children in the developing world is still underweight . From 1990 to 2008, the proportion of underweight children in developing countries declined from 31 to 26 per cent - a significant achievement but one which still leaves too many young lives at risk of not achieving their full potential. Reaching the 2015 MDG target of halving the prevalence of underweight children will require accelerated and concerted action to scale up nutrition interventions at key stages of a child’s life (MDG 1). Nutrition must become a top political and development priority and work legislation, quality reproductive health services and society at large all have roles to play in supporting mothers to breastfeed their infants to achieve good maternal health (MDG 5).
A number of simple and cost-effective interventions can improve nutritional status. GAIN’s programs focus on optimal young child feeding practices, specifically: exclusive breastfeeding for six months, the development of nutritious complementary foods and food supplements for infants older than six months, and continued breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond. GAIN Infant and Young Child Nutrition Program’s goal is to improve the health and nutrition of ten million children under two years old in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean through improved feeding practices and the reduction of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. It does this by supporting public and private partners to reach infants in low-income families. These interventions will reduce child mortality (MDG 4) which is still a huge problem in many countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where one in seven children dies before the age of one .
Note
During World Breastfeeding Week, GAIN will be supporting various actions organized by the Ministries of Health in Kenya and Uganda to promote optimal feeding practices. In Kenya, 35 percent of children under five are stunted (low height for age), in Uganda stunting prevalence is 38 percent. GAIN will also support celebrations in Afghanistan, organized under the high leadership of the second Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and chaired by the Minister of Health. In Afghanistan, 59 percent of under-fives are stunted.
Background information
GAIN and the MDGs
| Goal 1: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger | GAIN supports projects that provide nutritious foods to large populations – through market channels where feasible and through public sector delivery systems when the market fails. More nutritious food improves individual productivity and helps to reduce poverty. |
| Goal 2: to achieve universal primary education | GAIN’s programs (including school feeding programs) reach children with essential vitamins and minerals and lead to healthier minds. |
| Goal 3: to promote gender equality and to empower women | GAIN’s projects promote fortification of staple foods consumed by girls and young women; fortification yields health benefits by reducing iron deficiency and anemia. By improving women’s physical and mental capacities their ability to participate as equal citizens in society is enhanced |
| Goal 4: to reduce child mortality | GAIN’s programs improve young child feeding practices and bolster the nutritional status of infants and young children which contributes to a healthy immune system. GAIN supports exclusive breastfeeding for six months and the development of nutritious complementary food and food supplements for infants older than six months in addition to continued breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond. |
| Goal 5: to improve maternal health | GAIN's work contributes to healthy motherhood and better prospects for babies by improving the micronutrient status of girls, adolescents and women. Undernourished, anemic women are at severe risk of death and illness when they have children, and are likely to have babies with low birth weight. |
| Goal 6: to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases | GAIN has supported small scale projects to provide nutrient dense meals to people living with HIV. In 2009 GAIN initiated a broader program on nutrition and infectious diseases. |
| Goal 8:to develop a global partnership for development | As an international alliance, GAIN facilitates active partnerships providing resources and technical assistance to international and national alliances of governments, the private sector and civil society that work together to reduce poverty and improve nutritional and health status. |
Sources: MDG Report 2010. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). June 2010 and SOWC Special Edition. November 2009. Unicef.
