| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, January 31, 2012 | 4:00PM - 6:00PM | The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility, 'Munk Centre For International Studies - 1 Devonshire Place |
Global Ideas Institute Speaker Series
Prevention of malnutrition in children has been a priority for United Nations agencies, governments and NGOs for decades. The last of the major nutritional problems yet to be solved is iron deficiency and its accompanying anemia. Close to 200 million children globally are affected. Our research group has developed an intervention to fortify foods in the home (home-fortification) to prevent iron deficiency. Over the past 10 years the intervention has been shown to be efficacious and safe; has been produced by the private sector; has been championed by the United Nations and implemented by the UN, NGO, public and private sectors. In 2010, 400 million units were procured by UN agencies alone for use in over 30 countries. However, the scaling-up process has actually been quite variable – some more successful, some less so – contingent on a host of social, political and economic factors. This discussion will use multiple country examples to illustrate the complexity of scaling of home-fortification.
Stanley Zlotkin MD, PhD is a professor of Paediatrics, Public Health Sciences and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. He was appointed to the position of VP Medical and Academic Affairs in July 2010. Dr. Zlotkin and his Program, the Sprinkles Global Health Initiative has focused on research and advocacy to control micronutrient malnutrition in children. Challenged by UNICEF to come up with a viable and reproducible solution to the problem of micronutrient malnutrition, Zlotkin and his research team developed the concept of micronutrient powders for ‘home-fortification’ of complementary foods. With support from USAID, CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and private foundations, he has completed stable isotope studies and RCTs in more than 8 developing countries to ‘prove’ the efficacy and effectiveness of ‘home-fortification’ to control micronutrient deficiencies. Professor Zlotkin’s advocacy work was recognized by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in 2006 with his receipt of the prestigious ‘CIHR National Knowledge Translation Award’ for “outstanding contributions to the health of children worldwide”. He was awarded the HJ Heinz Humanitarian Award in 2001 for his international contribution to the health of children globally, and in 2008 was awarded the Order of Canada, the highest civilian honour in Canada, for his contributions to improving the lives of children globally. In 2011 he was awarded a Fellowship in the Canadian Society of Health Sciences.
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