The Flour Fortification Program is Sustainable in Pakistan Now
March 31, 2008
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Malnutrition is a serious problem in Pakistan, especially for children who under 5. Furthermore, 38% of them have lower weight, 37% of them are hypogenesis, and 13% of them are marasmus. The nutrition status of Pakistan is depending on regions, but there are 39% of pregnant women and 50% of children who under 5 in Pakistan are anemia according to estimation.
Food fortification provides solution to malnutrition, and it also provides solution to the public sanitation problem of high risk group. Flour fortification by using iron and folacin is one of important strategy of the ¡°Ten Years National Nutrition Improvement Strategies¡± (NPPS) of Pakistan, and the purpose of the strategy is to improve health of people.
Wheat flour is the staple food in Pakistan. The annual consumption of wheat flour in Pakistan is 15 million tons, and each person consumes 300 grams of wheat flour in average. Therefore, wheat flour is the most suitable carrier of micronutrients. The production level of wheat flour in Pakistan is enough to match the consumption level of the nation. Furthermore, more than half amount of these wheat flour is processed by large and merchandized mills, and flour fortification is an easy task for these mills.
In Pakistan, the micronutrients directive program has already replaced small scale food fortification programs, and staple food fortification is widely accepted by the mass and government of Pakistan. In July 2005, The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) which provides financial and technical support to food fortification programs in 17 countries signed an agreement with the ministry of health of Pakistan which provide three million US dollars to the wheat flour fortification program of the country, and the duration of the contract is 3 years. There are 300 mills get involved into the first period of the program, which is flour fortification by using iron (10ppmNaFeEDTA) and folacin (1.5ppm). Furthermore, GAIN also provides support to the administration of standard of Pakistan to draft the mandatory wheat flour fortification standard.
Under the support of GAIN, the flour fortification program in Pakistan is widely supported by other partners. Furthermore, the program also created 8.3 million US dollars¡¯ revenue to both government and private institutions of Pakistan. According to estimation, the program will cover 600 mills to 2010. Furthermore, flour producers have committed that they will invest large amount of resources to the program which include equipment updating, and focalin and premix purchasing. Government of Pakistan has also commited that they will invest on quality control and consumption of fortified flour.
Pakistan setup a supervision and administration system for its food fortification program which called NFA. Furthermore, members of FNA include corporations, government institutions, and social organizations which closely cooperate together. The NFA was administrated by the Pakistan Ministry of Health, it include PFMA and other mills, department of industry, department of agriculture and food, international partners such as MI, WEP, WHO and UNICEF , and other food industries which could implement food fortification such as ghee and salt industry. All cooperative partners closely work together. Programs include enlarge the production scale, making plan for the quality control system, increasing consumption from society, promoting advertisement, and implementing the supervising and evaluation system in four provinces. MI is one of the cooperative partners who did great contribution to the flour fortification program in Pakistan. It provided support in the early stage of the program, and it also provided a lot of constructive suggestions.
Under the promotion by cooperative partners, Pakistan launched two baseline surveys (KAP Surveys) to get a general situation about the consumption of fortified flour in the market. Furthermore, the government of Pakistan also signed a memo with PFMA to clarify responsibilities of both parties which include price stabilization and quality control. They also purchased 50 micro machines for premix, and 64800 KG permit. Moreover, they also setup the system for quality control which includes training programs for employees and scientists who working in labs. In order to create a sustainable development for the program, the program group is launching all sorts of administration activities, so that the program could be continued after the contract period with GAIN.
In conclusion, the support by GAIN promoted flour fortification in Pakistan, it motivated all partners to commited large amount of investment for the flour fortification program. It will lead the health and nutrition programs in Pakistan to a sustainable growth.
Reference
Cheng Ying China Food Newspaper
Text Translation by: Liu, SiHong
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