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Central Asia Focus on Micronutrient Malnutrition

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN (11 October 2001) - Government and private sector representatives from several developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) met in Almaty yesterday to discuss ways of dealing with micronutrient malnutrition, and the mental retardation that it causes.

New funds from Japan and technical advances should enable the latest initiative to iodize salt and fortify wheat flour in Central Asia to succeed, eminent nutritionist Turgeldy Sharmanov, president of the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition (KAN), told the Forum to Improve Nutrition for Poor Mothers and Children which opened at Almaty today. Professor Sharmanov is flanked by ADB's William Fraser, Manager of Education, Health and Population (East) Division (left), and UNICEF's Philippe Heffinck, Almaty-based Area Representative. The conference is co-sponsored by ADB, UNICEF and KAN and financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, funded by the Government of Japan.

Representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are attending from 10 to 12 October a Forum to Improve Nutrition for Poor Mothers and Children. Azerbaijan is here as an observer and is expected to become a full participant later.

The three-day Forum seeks a regional approach and country solutions to an alarming increase in iodine and iron deficiency in Central Asia and neighboring countries. The lack of essential nutrients is especially affecting pregnant women and children. Expectant mothers suffer from anemia while children who are denied nutrients in the womb can lose an average of 13 IQ points as well as being physically stunted.

The Forum, which is co-sponsored by the ADB, the United Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition, aims to reach a consensus on a regional program to solve a crisis that threatens the region's economic and social development. The program's target is to raise consumption of iodized salt in Central Asia to 66 percent of the population from 26 per cent, and consumption of fortified wheat flour to 33 percent from near-zero, within two years. The program is being financed by a US$6 million grant from the ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, funded by the Government of Japan.

Within the regional framework - "a partnership for children," as it is being billed - the Forum will develop country investment plans, tailored to the priorities of the participating countries.

Eminent nutritionist Turgeldy Sharmanov, President of the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition, told delegates yesterday that initiatives to iodize salt and fortify wheat flour are not new, but efforts foundered during the painful transition of Central Asian economies from command to market economies since 1991. The severe economic downturn had an adverse impact on social programs, he noted. However, new resources and technical developments - such as the "KAP Komplex" premix with iron and other nutrients for flour fortification - should enable the latest initiative to succeed.

Another noted figure in nutrition, Nevin Scrimshaw, President of the US-based International Nutrition Foundation, described iodine deficiency as a "tragic burden" and warned that "No country can afford the adverse effects of 13 IQ points lost by young children from iodine deficiency." Mr. Scrimshaw led campaigns in Central America in the 1950s that reduced rates of endemic goiter - caused by iron deficiency - from 38 percent to 14 percent in two years. The comparable rates in Central Asia and Mongolia today range from 20 percent in Mongolia to between 70 percent and over 90 percent in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

William Fraser, Manager of ADB's Education, Health and Population (East) Division, said ADB is mandated to further economic and social development. Both rely on human development that requires the proper physical and mental development of each individual, which in turn depends on adequate nutrition. He noted the enormous costs to the family and the state of failing to deal with the problem. In addition to improving nutrition, which is a critical element in sustainably reducing poverty, Mr. Fraser said the program promotes gender equity, stakeholder participation, and the targeting of disadvantaged groups in remote areas.

Philippe Heffinck, Almaty-based Area Representative for UNICEF, noted that the challenge of promoting universal salt iodization and wheat flour fortification "is ambitious but also a realistic and important step to achieving every child's right to adequate nutrition." He noted that iodine deficiency "robs nations" of 5 percent of economic growth while the cost of the solution can be small and self-financing.

Akira Tateyama, Japan's Charge d'Affairs in Kazakhstan, said that half of all child deaths in the world are related, directly or indirectly, to nutrition deficiencies and he hoped this initiative would "give momentum for the solution of this problem." He said the program is in line with Japan's concept of Human Security which means securing the existence, life and dignity of people in tackling problems such as poverty.

During the conference, delegations will formulate country investment plans (CIPs) to identify effective, low-cost schemes to raise consumption of fortified salt and wheat flour. The CIPs will include implementation arrangements with partners, including NGOs, communication strategies, and monitoring and evaluation arrangements. Arrangements for sharing regional research will also be discussed.

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