Basel, Switzerland – Bayer recently launched ‘The Nutrient Gap Initiative’ to expand underserved communities’ access to vitamins and minerals to help combat malnutrition around the world.
Part of the company’s vision of ‘Health for All, Hunger for None’, its goal is to reach 50 million people a year by 2030 through direct action and in partnership with key non-governmental organisations with a focus on intervention, education and advocacy.
The Nutrient Gap Initiative is the first programme which will impact Bayer’s consumer health division’s sustainability commitment to enable access to everyday health for 100 million underserved people by 2030.
Access to the right nutrients during the first 1,000 days of life – during pregnancy and through the first two years – is critical to the healthy growth and development of a baby as well as the mother’s health. Unfortunately, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are a major public health problem in underserved communities, with women and children being particularly vulnerable.
Almost 50 per cent of young women and adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries have inadequate vitamin and mineral intake, and at least half of children world-wide under five suffer from this deficiency.
The consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies worsen gradually over time, resulting in significant health consequences across the lifespan and ultimately exacerbates the cycle of poverty.
“As a leader and expert in supplemental nutrition, we know how important these nutrients are to help ensure health for all, particularly for vulnerable populations who need it most, like underserved women and children,” Heiko Schipper, president of Bayer’s consumer health division and a member of the board of management, said.
“Having a healthy baby is a concern for every parent and parent-to-be everywhere around the world and through The Nutrient Gap Initiative, we plan on creating programmes that will help give babies the best start in life today and for generations to come.”
The company’s work will begin with a focus on pregnant women and babies, given they are among the most vulnerable and need even more support due to the impact of COVID-19.
Preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies early in pregnancy can help mitigate poor pregnancy outcomes such as stunted growth and impaired neurological development, which lead to long-term health and economic consequences for individuals and societies.
As the global leader in pre-natal supplements, Bayer is committed to helping all parents and parents-to-be have a happy and healthy baby, and is working with several partners to bring pre-natal interventions to underserved communities.
The programme aims to reach up to four million underserved pregnant women and their babies annually with a daily multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) intervention in partnership with global non-governmental organisation Vitamin Angels and its partners.
MMS is a formulation of essential vitamins and minerals that women need to safeguard their health, a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
Programmes will be implemented to ensure high adherence and acceptance by the population, and to encourage the inclusion of this prenatal intervention in regular local ante-natal health services to help impact the first 1,000 days of life.
Interventions will begin in Indonesia, Mexico, the US, and Viet Nam, and will roll out to other countries in subsequent years.
This partnership is in addition to the work Bayer is already doing to make vitamins and minerals more affordable and accessible around the world.
The programme will develop a nutrition education curriculum with Vitamin Angels and other partners to empower healthcare professionals and pregnant women in underserved communities. This programme will effectively introduce MMS to pregnant women and scale it up.
The company’s leading pre-natal brand ElevitTM, which is committed to helping more babies have a healthy start in life, has created ‘Every Beginning,’ an initiative to build global awareness of prenatal nutrition deficiency and helping parents and parents-to-be connect through universal experiences and gain access to vital nutrients.
The programme will advance support for women and girls in driving their own healthcare in partnership with the White Ribbon Alliance.
Partnering with leading NGOs across sectors to launch a cross-industry collaboration to support the global movement around maternal health will be done. The goal is to drive collective action and scale up access to MMS.
Currently only 70 per cent of low- and middle-income communities have access to iron-folic acid (IFA) during pregnancy, which is no longer considered sufficient based on recent World Health Organization guidelines. Through this work, Bayer will aim to help close this gap.
The Nutrient Gap Initiative begins immediately and will be focused on communities that need access to life-changing vitamins and minerals most, in keeping with our vision of Health for all, Hunger for none.