Maternal, newborn and child health remains Canada’s top international development priority and we are committed to working with Canadian and international partners toward the goal of ending the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children under the age of five.
To this end, Canada will contribute $150 million over five years (2014/15-2018/19) to the Micronutrient Initiative. Canada’s funding will support direct, evidence-based and cost-effective nutrition interventions, including:
the delivery and administration of an estimated 400 million vitamin A and zinc supplements per year, to children under the age of five;
support for private salt producers to increase the production of iodized salt reaching at least 120 million people per year; and,
support for the administration of iron and folic acid supplements to reach up to 80 per cent of pregnant women in the communities targeted by the Initiative.
Overall, the MI’s efforts will help to avert up to 200,000 child deaths and prevent 100,000 cases of mental impairment each year. As well, iron deficiency and anemia will be reduced in pregnant women by at least 5 per cent in countries where iron and folic acid programs are supported.
Poor nutrition impairs health and human capital development, with significant consequences to economic growth and development. Undernutrition, resulting from insufficient intake of nutritious food and repeated infectious disease, contributes to the deaths of an estimated 3.1 million children under five each year. This accounts for approximately 45 per cent of all child deaths – while millions more children are permanently disabled by the physical and mental effects of undernutrition. It is estimated that undernutrition can reduce the economic potential of countries by approximately 8 per cent due to direct productivity losses, poorer cognition, and reduced schooling.
The Micronutrient Initiative
The Micronutrient Initiative is an Ottawa-based, international not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and nutritional status of vulnerable populations – especially women and children – through essential vitamin and mineral supplements. The MI is a global leader in advancing integrated, innovative and sustainable solutions to reduce vitamin and mineral deficiencies through advocacy, technical and programmatic support, in collaboration with others. With Canadian support, the organization is saving and improving the lives of 500 million people annually in 70 countries with its child survival, child health, growth and development and women’s and newborn survival and health programs.
Canada has been the principal donor to MI since 1998, providing on average $30 million a year to total approximately $600 million since its creation. Canada's support to MI has helped to provide:
an average of 180 million children under five with two doses of vitamin A each year;
an average of over 300 million people with iodized salt to prevent iodine deficiency each year;
nearly 2 million pregnant women with iron and folic acid supplements for healthier pregnancies each year; and,
over 60,000 children with improved treatment for severe acute malnutrition.
Of the $150 million, five-year commitment announced today, the first year ($30 million; 2014/15 to 2015/16) is part of the $2.85 billion commitment made under the Muskoka Initiative (2010 to 2015); the latter four years ($120 million; 2015/16 to 2018/19) is part of the $3.5 billion commitment (2015-2020) announced by the Prime Minister on May 29, 2014, at the Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach Summit.
