Why nutrition should be Canada’s next global health priority
Growing up in Cameroon, I saw firsthand the adverse effects of malnutrition in children. The children looked destitute and malnourished and most of them went to bed not knowing where their next meal would come from. They are among the over 50 million children who experience nutritional deficiencies, including undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies each year.
In 2011, 45% of child deaths were due to malnutrition. Another 161 million children under 5 years were stunted (low height for age) due to chronic undernutrition in 2013, which led to impaired cognitive and physical development, poor health and increased risk of degenerative diseases, while 51 million children experienced wasting (low weight for height).
The socio-economic impact of malnutrition is huge, with an estimated 200 million children failing to reach their full developmental potential. Malnutrition has been estimated to reduce a country’s GDP by up to 3%, but for every $1 spent fighting malnutrition, an estimated $18 is yielded in return. The Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health initiative by the United Nations Secretary-General that was put into action by the global Every Woman Every Child movement clearly lays out a comprehensive strategy to tackle nutrition in young children.
However, despite some progress made within the last two decades in reducing hunger and undernutrition from 24% (1990–1992) to 14% (2011–2013), the global community is still not on track to meet any of the World Health Assembly nutrition targets according to the 2014 Global Nutrition Report. With adolescent girls and women bearing the greatest socio-economic burden of malnutrition, its effects on this group have been recognized for decades with very little measurable progress made in addressing their specific nutritional problems. Moreover, being unaware of the symptoms of malnutrition, such as the lethargy and depression caused by iron deficiency has further exacerbated the problem. Malnourished HIV-positive mothers are more likely to transmit the virus to their infants while experiencing a more rapid transition from HIV to AIDS.
With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent pledge of $785 million CAD over a three-year period to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which represents a 20% increase from Canada’s previous commitment, Canada is gradually pivoting itself to champion global development issues. “Thankfully,” Trudeau said, “organizations like The Global Fund exist to make a real difference. It works hard each and every day to deliver help to those who need it most. They truly do save lives each and every day.”
But if Canada is serious about improving the health of the most vulnerable people globally, we need to prioritize women and girls’ health and undernutrition.
Nutritional deficiencies are more common in women than in men because of their reproductive biology, low social status, poverty, and lack of education. Certain cultural traditions and disparities in household work patterns also increase women’s chances of being malnourished. But addressing women’s malnutrition has a range of positive outcomes: healthy women can fulfill their multiple roles to generate income, better secure their families’ nutrition, and raise healthier children, thus advancing their countries’ socioeconomic development.
Malnutrition in children is the biggest contributor to under-five mortality due to greater susceptibility to infections and slow recovery from illness, which in turn affects their future capacity to learn and work. Children who are stunted in the first two years of life have shown to have lower cognitive test scores, delayed enrolment, higher absenteeism and more class repetition compared with non-stunted children. Vitamin A deficiency reduces immunity and increases the incidence and gravity of infectious diseases, resulting in increased school absenteeism.
An opportunity to join the global conversation
This year’s 4th global Women Deliver conference, in Copenhagen, Denmark from 16–19 May 2016, is the largest gathering of political leaders, policy-makers and advocates on girls’ and women’s health, rights, and well-being in more than a decade. Attending in my capacity as a Women Deliver Young Leader, the conference will focus on how to implement the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development so they meet the needs of and empower girls and women, with a specific focus on health — particularly maternal, sexual, and reproductive health and rights — and on gender equality, education, environment, and economic empowerment. All of these issues are related to adequate nutrition.
With RESULTS Canada, I will be attending “Making investments in nutrition and health work for women and girls”, a special side event in Copenhagen hosted by the ACTION global health advocacy partnership, and will reflect on the global health architecture, financing, and how key upcoming opportunities to invest in nutrition and health can be leveraged to accelerate progress towards achieving the Global Goals for women and girls.
Canada’s leadership rests on making real political and financial commitments
Canada has been a champion on maternal and child health issues and as part of the Muskoka Initiative, in June 2010 during the G8 summit in Toronto, Canada pledged to spend over $2.85 billion CAD between 2010–2015 to support women and children. Under Canada’s leadership, so much attention and resources have been mobilized globally on issues surrounding infant and maternal health.
With sustained funding commitments, Canada can build on this leadership role. Improving women’s, children’s and adolescents’ nutrition requires a range of polices, programmes and interventions at different stages of life and with the recent adoption of the 17 Global Goals, Canada still has a major role to play in championing the health of women and girls. It’s time for Canada’s government to propose a realistic timeline for financing the Global Goals, and reaching the UN’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) target of 0.7% of national income would be a start.
Joannes Paulus Yimbesalu is a Women Deliver Young Leader and RESULTS Canada volunteer citizen advocate. Views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author.
