Under nutrition contributes to 53 per cent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.
Lack of Vitamin A kills a million infants a year.
Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people. Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 per cent.
(Source: UNICEF)
It is estimated that 6, 84,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to Vitamin A and Zinc.
Iron deficiency is impairing the mental development of 40-60 per cent children in developing countries.
Vitamin A deficiency affects approximately 25 per cent of the developing world’s pre- schoolers. It is associated with blindness, susceptibility to disease and higher mortality rates. It leads to the death of approximately 1-3 million children each year.
Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage. Worldwide, 1.9 billion people are at risk of iodine deficiency, which can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt.
Sustained pollution of major rivers; continuous decline in groundwater reserves; priority allocation to non-consumptive sectors; and, growing disparity in water distribution only indicates that the worst is still to come!..
