Executive Summary
What if a simple intervention could have a transformative impact on future generations, significantly reducing the global incidence of two of the most widespread and devastating micronutrient deficiencies?
Food fortification has this power. Simply adding iron and folic acid to wheat flour and rice significantly reduces cases of anemia and birth defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly. And it is cost-effective.
Our consortium—which includes Nutrition International, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Food Fortification Initiative, International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, and ReachAnother Foundation—will support countries with the highest burden of anemia and birth defects to implement large-scale food fortification, which will significantly cut global prevalence of anemia, spina bifida/anencephaly. We will reach 700 million people, preventing more than 150,000 cases of spina bifida/anencephaly and in excess of 50 million cases of anemia. By 2030, we will improve the lives of 2.2 billion people.
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Accomplishments
Our consortium has made great strides to expand large-scale food fortification around the world. We have supported legislative and regulatory reforms in six countries and collaborated with governments and partners to secure renewed commitments to mandatory or voluntary fortification in Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Egypt. In Pakistan, we have leveraged new financial support to continue the world’s largest food fortification program in cooking oil and wheat flour. We also continue to explore new platforms and food vehicles—such as social protection programs in India or the double fortification of salt with iodine and folic acid in Ethiopia—to deliver nutrient-rich foods. In addition, we continue to build global knowledge in support of fortification through contributions to peer-reviewed journals and conferences. In one example, we published estimates in the journal Nutrients on 195 countries’ potential to fortify cereal grains on a large scale, leading to potential reductions in anemia and Neural Tube Defects where fortification programs were established.
