By Ochiaka Ugwu
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, CON, has said that micronutrients were vital to sustainable development in every society.
Pate who made this known last week in Abuja at the Launch of fortified Rice Pilot production and official introduction to schools participating in the pilot noted that importance of micronutrients cannot be over-emphasized stating that global evidences shows that persistent Micronutrient deficiencies leads to serious health issues such as reduced resistance to infectious diseases, blindness, lethargy, reduced learning capacity, mental retardation and, in some cases, death.
Pate represented by Ladidi Bako Ayebisi, Director of Nutrition Division, Federal Ministry of Health assured of Federal Government’s commitment to food security and superior nutrition for all.
Country Director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (gain), Michael Ojo stated that Large-scale food fortification was reputed to be one of the most cost-effective public health interventions.
He informed that Large-scale food fortification which was the addition of essential vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed staples and condiments during industrial processing to address micronutrient deficiencies in normal diets had been employed as a national strategy for Micronutrient Deficiency Control (MNDC) for 20 years.
Mr. Neera J. Kumar representative of WACOT RICE LTD, a rice manufacturing giant and makers of fortified rice said it contains a lot of micronutrients suitable for growth and development, maintaining that fortification was deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality and provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health.
