SCN News No 35
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SCN NEWS provides information on CONTENTS issues of importance and sharing of SECRETARY’S ROUND-UP 1 experiences in the field of international FOREWORD 2 nutrition. All manuscripts submitted for consideration are peer-reviewed, FEATURES 3 although publication is not guaranteed. • Guest Editorial—Venkatesh Mannar, Micronutrient Initiative 3 Overall editorial control is retained by Global progress in addressing iodine deficiency through USI: the SCN Secretariat. Every effort is The makings of a global public health success story made to ascertain the validity of the • Basil Hetzel—The first decade (1985-1995) 5 information contained in SCN • Kul C. Gautam —The second decade (1995-2007) 12 publications. Contributing authors are responsible for the accuracy of Achieving and Sustaining USI references. Manuscript guidelines are • David P. Haxton—Advocacy planning to sustain successful elimination of available at www.unsystem.org/scn iodine deficiency 19 • Justus de Jong—Achieving and sustaining USI trough teamwork: Items published by the SCN Secretariat do not imply endorsement intersector partnerships and role of salt industry 22 of views given, nor necessarily the • Robert Parker—Successful voluntary action to catalyze a global health public official positions taken by the SCN and endeavour. The Kiwanis International experience 28 its member agencies. The status of • Zupei Chen, Zhihua Dong and Jiahua Lin—Effective programme development quotes and other material is generally and management. Lessons learned from USI in China 33 indicated in the text and/or sources. • Jack C. Ling—Getting the message across to change policy, attitude and behaviour 37 All links to websites and online • Dora N. Akunyili— Doing it well through regulation and enforcement. Lessons information in this publication were learned from USI in Nigeria 43 accessed in November and December • Kevin M. Sullivan, Parminder S. Suchdev and Laurence Grummer-Strawn— 2007, unless otherwise indicated. Doing it well through quality assurance, monitoring and impact evaluation 48 • Tina van den Briel, Mohamed Mansour, Luc Laviolette and Rizwan Yusufali— SCN NEWS is issued twice a year by Operational considerations and challenges of involving small the United Nations System SCN. Your (er) salt processors: Experiences of the UN World Food contributions to future issues are most Programme and the Micronutrient Initiative 54 welcome; please send these to • Comments from the SCN News USI peer review team 58 [email protected] PROGRAMME NEWS 59 Readers are encouraged to review, • Senegal: Efforts to fast track Universal Salt Iodization 59 abstract, reproduce or translate this • Philippines: Evidence-based iodization policy changes in the Philippines 59 document in part or in whole— • Brazil: Impact of Salt Iodization in Brazil - Ministry of Health of Brazil 60 but please attribute to the SCN. • WHO/UNICEF: Joint Statement on reaching optimal iodine nutrition in pregnant and lactating women and young children 60 If you wish to receive additional copies • WHO: New Growth Reference data for children and adolescents 61 of SCN NEWS, to be added to or • WHO: HIV and Nutrition Consultation 61 removed from our Emailing list, or • WHO: Scientific update on trans fatty acids (TFA) 61 would like to suggest other names to be added to our distribution list, please • FAO/WHO: Scientific update on carbohydrates in human nutrition 62 - send an email to [email protected] • Interagency: HIV and infant feeding 62 - write to us at • FAO: FSN Forum 62 SCN c/o WHO, 20 Avenue Appia, • FAO: FSNL Discussion Group 63 CH 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland • ECOWAS: Joining forces for ensuring adequate nutrition and health 63 - send a fax to +41-22-798 88 91 • HKI: Initiative to fortify West Africa 64 - or submit a publication request form • UNICEF: Revised mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) tapes 64 at www.unsystem.org/scn • HarvestPlus: A food-based approach in Mozambique 64 This issue of SCN NEWS was edited • GAIN: New incentives to improve infant and young child nutrition 65 by Kaia Engesveen. • Iran: University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 65 SPEAKER’S CORNER: FOOD LABELS AND HUMAN RIGHTS RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CORPORATE FOOD SECTOR 67 SCN NEWS • Boyd Swinburn—The front-of-pack battleground for nutrient logos 67 is printed by the • Jup van’t Veld—The Choices Programme 69 Lavenham Press United Kingdom PUBLICATIONS 75 BULLETIN BOARD 81 ISSN 1564-3743 EXTRAS • SCN AME Task Force: Call for nutrition indicators 66 • Obituary: Pat Jelliffe, by Michael Latham 72 • FAO/WHO: Call for experts 74 www.unsystem.org/scn 1 Secretary’s Round-up This edition of the SCN News is about one of the greatest success stories in international nutrition, that of Universal Salt Iodization. Although much still remains to be done, remarkable advances have been achieved in the fight against Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in the last two decades. The series was organized thanks to a special collaboration by the Micronutrient Initiative, with Venkatesh Mannar agreeing to become the guest editor for this edition. We hope that you enjoy the articles, and our thanks are due to all those that have collaborated in this including Venkatesh, the writers themselves, and the peer review team. The last semester of 2007 has seen increased attention to the structure and function of the international nutrition system. The report of the Independent External Review of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has recommended considerable changes to the nutrition capacity of the organization. How FAO will respond to these recommendations remains to be determined. At the request of the SCN Chair, the SCN Steering Committee has agreed that a review of the international nutrition coordination mechanisms among UN agencies in particular be carried out. The review will give special consideration to how best to structure the relationships between the SCN and the emerging activities being promoted through the Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition Initiative (ECHUI). The review recommendations will be discussed at the 35th Session of the SCN to be held in Hanoi in the first week of March. The 35th Session of the SCN will look at accelerating the reduction of maternal and child undernutrition, and the latest draft agenda and details for registration are available at the SCN website. The Session will be looking at the programmatic implications of the findings from the upcoming Lancet Nutrition Series, which has five papers that will be published during five weeks, starting the 17th January. The first two papers review the prevalence and the short and long term consequences of maternal and child undernutrition on individuals and societies. The third paper explores the potential impact of evidence based interventions on reducing incidence of maternal and child undernutrition. The final two papers assess national and international efforts to improve nutrition and suggest ways to improve program effectiveness. All five papers will be available on the internet in early January, and links will be posted on the SCN website. Many staff changes have occurred among the various SCN constituents during this last semester. At FAO Ezzeddine Boutrif was appointed as Director of the Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division and at WHO Jorgen Schlundt has taken over as acting Director in charge of Nutrition in Health and Development. Denise Coitinho, previously the Director of Nutrition in Health and Development at WHO, has become the coordinator of an interagency action team, based at WFP in Rome, that will give fresh impetus to the ending child hunger activities. Ian Darnton-Hill, from UNICEF NYHQ, will also be going to Rome to work with the interagency team on a regular basis. At the World Bank, Julian Schweitzer has been appointed as Director of the Health Nutrition and Population Department. A warm welcome is extended to all of the above, and we wish them every success in their work, and look forward to the continued collaboration of their agencies with the SCN. Roger Shrimpton * FAO (2007) FAO: The Challenge of Renewal: An independent external evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (working draft). FAO:Rome. (online) back to contents SCN NEWS # 35 2 www.unsystem.org/scn Foreword GAIN is pleased to provide support to this issue of the SCN News which focuses on the importance of iodine deficiency to public health, with particular emphasis on global and national efforts to improve iodine nutrition among populations. Over the past two decades, iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and their manifestations have received a great deal of attention and resources in a major global effort to eliminate IDD through the universal iodization of salt (USI). A unique partnership between national governments and the salt industry was formed, catalyzed at the country level by international agencies, such as UNICEF, resulting in rapid progress towards the goal of USI. This publication provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress towards sustainable USI programs and to identify success factors and lessons learnt in the process. Today, approximately 70.1% of the world’s population is estimated to use iodized salt, in a total of 130 countries and as a result of these efforts, it has been estimated that close to 79 million infants are born with some degree of protection from the adverse consequences of iodine deficiency. However, in spite of the success in many countries, USI programs have stalled in many settings and it is necessary to take an honest look at what is required in order to reach higher levels of coverage and to assure that achievements are sustained over the long term. One of the features distinguishing salt iodization from many other public health initiatives is that it requires a high level of involvement and motivation from multiple players. The salt chain consists of producers, packers, truckers, wholesalers and retailers, law enforcement officers and public health advocates. It is the intensification of the synergy amongst all the stakeholders that will make iodized salt accessible and affordable to all segments of populations.