PHA-Exchange> INTL SOCIETY FOR PUBLIC NUTRITION

[Aviva]

Dear friends and colleagues, please find below the Second Bulletin of the
ISPN, as promised.

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF PUBLIC NUTRITION (ISPN)

BULLETIN # 2

Aaron Lechtig, July 19, 2002

"His death was a great loss to each and every needy child in this world" As
time from Jim Grant death passes, these words from Nelson Mandela are still
more relievant. Sheyla Barry Tacon reported that this first book on Jim is
already out in the stores. It starts with a grateful Foreword from former US
President Jimmy Carter, who while in charge proposed him as UNICEF Executive
Director. It brings contributions from well known friends and working
colleagues such as Peter Adamson, Kul Gautam, Richard Jolly, Nyi Nyi, Mary
Racelis, Richard Reid, John Rohde and Sheyla her self. It provides very
illustrative first hand glimpses on the period 1980-1995. Its careful
reading is a very valuable help and a source of renewed enthusiasm for those
of us interested in improving the quality of life of children
(SBTacon at aol.com).

Geneva: Is it not astonishing? During the World Health Assembly (at the
second year after the 2000) there was no reference to the 'Health for All
for the year 2000' goals or comprehensive approaches to health. All the
initiatives were focussed on inmediate determinants of health and none
tackled the underlying factors.

Claudio Schuftan reports that The People Health Movement (PHM) participated
in the first Technical briefing session at the World Health Assembly, this
year from 13-17th May. The PHM delegation raised the need for caution in
placing NGOs in the same group as 'for profit - private sector' as well as
the need to look at the poor income people of the world. It was a good
opportunity to understand the dynamics of WHO and the need for effective
lobbying with government delegates and WHO leadership towards a better
strategy to balance the 'market' trends (aviva at netnam.vn).

Sweden: Alarming. Ted Greiner reports that there is a substantial
dismantling of UN and other programs to protect, support and promote breast
feeding due to misunderstanding and misallocation of resources following the
launching of the new UN policy on HIV and infant feeding (1997 with
guidelines issued in 1998). This trend includes the countries with high
prevalence of HIV infection.

But some good news.... A Letter of Concern was sent to the UN agencies by 77
scientists about the way the pilot projects are being conducted in order to
test the infant feeding component of PMTCT, particularly the lack of
evaluation of the impact of artificial feeding. The UN agencies provided a
substantive response and the will to find a way to work better with the
"breastfeeding community" seems to be growing.

History will be made again in Arusha. UNICEF is leading the way toward new
policies based partly on lessons learned so far, and is joining the World
Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) in holding the Colloquium on HIV
and Infant Feeding in Arusha , Tanzania on September 20-21, 2002 (See
http://www.waba.org.br/forum2/colloquium.html.)

This is important, because it is the first time that the breastfeeding and
HIV "communities" have been brought together to identify areas of agreement
for coordinated action. Afterwards, WABA will hold the second Global Forum,
also in Arusha from Sept 23-27, entitled Nurturing the Future, Challenges to
Breastfeeding in the 21st Century. (ted_greiner at hotmail.com)

Prof. Michael Latham from Cornell University is also working with WABA and
UNICEF on these two important Arusha meetings. ISPN members are encouraged
to participate. Michael indicated that details on these meetings can also be
obtained from the WABA Secretariat in Penang, Malaysia secr at waba.po.my ;
wabaforum at pd.jaring.my; Fax 60-4 657-2655.

Information and registration forms for both meetings are available at the
website http://www.waba.org.br/forum2/.

Norway: A must for reading and discussion. On this same line, Elisabet
Helsing, a colleague who worked in the organization of the ISPN, finished
her excellent paper on breast feeding and children rights. The paper to be
published soon, covers a wide spectrum of issues such as: Why are human
rights important in breastfeeding? Provisions relevant to breastfeeding in
international human rights instruments; Is there any alternative to the
species-specific milk? The historical contribution of the health profession
to the replacement of breastfeeding; The medical connection - a dangerous
liaison; Introducing human rights to the breast feeding movement and
discourse; Mothers' human right to breastfeed; Feminist perspectives;
Mothers' "right" to make an informed choice -is someone shirking
responsibility? Turning the tide: defining the obligations of states in a
human rights perspective; Establishing a framework for state obligations. As
you can see this paper is a must for all of us (ehel at online.no).

New York, United Nations: An Unclear Special Session? Michael Latham
reported also on the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on
Children. He was delighted to see the participation of so many children. At
the same time he was disgusted at the U.S. intransigence which resulted in a
rather weak final declaration. Thanks to you Michael for the insight and for
your encouragement to all of us to keep up the work at the ISPN.

A similar perception was reported by several colleagues including Stuart
Gillespie in NNN. The Children's Forum that preceded the main meeting was
one of the most notable highlights. Later among the adults too much time was
wasted arguing over language that should have been solved during the long
stage of the meeting preparation.

Major successes from the World Summit for Children in 1990 included the near
eradication of polio and IDD and the reduction in the number of child deaths
per year of more than 3 million at world level. Impressive gains of
continental scale were also reported. Latin America and the Caribbean
achieved most goals in Nutrition and Health including those of decreasing
the prevalence of malnutrition and of low birthweight babies.

The plan of action adopted in this Special Session (there was no vote)
reaffirms several pending goals at world level, the so-called unfinished
Agenda: elimination of IDD by 2005; elimination of vitamin A deficiency and
reduction of one-third of anemia and iron deficiency by 2010; and, the
reduction by one-third of child malnutrition among under-fives and low birth
weight by 2015.

Comparisons with the World Summit for Children one decade ago were
unavoidable. They may help to expand the scope and strenght of the world
commitment to children (http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/;
mcl6 at cornell.edu).

Good News from Kenya. Prof. Ruth K. Oniang'o suggests all people interested
on Africa Nutrition issues to link to the African Journal of Food and
Nutritional Sciences-AJFNS. The website is www.ajfns.net Congratulations to
you Ruth and your team for the third issue of the Journal and keep it
up!!!!!!!!. We know how much effort it takes to publish a good International
Journal when you are based in a developing country.

Good news from Viet Nam. Claudio Schuftan reports that Vietnam successfully
completed its first five year plan on food and nutrition. The prevalence of
child malnutrition as measured by low weight for the age has decreased from
44% to 37% during same period. This means a decreasing rate of minus 1.4%
per year, similar to many latin american countries in the past decade. Salt
iodization and Vit A capsules distribution have increased significantly.
Work to control Iron Defficiency Aanemia has trailed behind, but is now
getting better attention. In 2001 the country started the implementation of
its second plan of action (aviva at netnam.vn).

Washington DC: New and Noteworthy in Nutrition (NNN), a thrice-yearly
newsletter on international nutrition and development has been revitalized
by Stuart Gillespie of IFPRI. The aim is to broadly keep the style of the
original that was brought out during the 1990s by Alan Berg of the World
Bank, whilst widening the scope to include the news and views of a range of
actors in international nutrition. The idea is that NNN will provide a
conduit for a dynamic interchange between research and development
communities on nutrition-relevant issues. It seeks to inform and stimulate,
not to educate. IFPRI welcomes and encourages your contributions, on
anything you feel is new and noteworthy. If you are not yet on the email or
hard copy mail list for NNN, please contact him (s.gillespie at ifpri.org).


Canada: Going Ahead. Normalie Barton reported on the Second International
Conference of the International Society for Equity in Health, carried out in
Toronto, Canada, on June 14-16, 2002. The Conference theme was Equity:
Research in the Service of Policy and Advocacy for Health and Health
Services.

For those of you who may not be familiar with it, the International Society
for Equity in Health (ISEqH) welcomes those interested in equity in health
and health services to share expertise and experience through an
international cross-disciplinary forum. ISEqH wishes to promote equity in
health and health services internationally through research, education,
publication and communication. Their specific purposes are to facilitate
scientific interchange; to advance research; to provide a forum for those
interested in contributing knowledge; and to maintain relationships with
other  organizations devoted to achieving equity in health.
Additional information is available on the ISEqH website:
www.iseqh.org/conf2002/toronto2002.htm or from "Normalie Barton"
nbarton at jhsph.edu

Central America: Advancing. Talking about Equity in Health, fresh winds are
coming from Central America. Hedi Deman, a former Research Associate at
INCAP was responsible for the implementation of the extension of coverage of
Primary Health care in Guatemala after the Peace Treaty which finished the
36 years civil war. In the period 1996- 1999, while she was the Executive
Officer in charge, the coverage figure rose from 50% to an impressive 84%,
in a country that could not move one point ahead during the last four
decades. Now she is a WB advisor working for similar improvements in Panama,
Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, with intense participation of the local
NGO´s at province and community level. As it is widely accepted now, access
to health services is as important as access to food and to care , in order
to get a significant improvement in the rates of malnutrition among the
poor. Several publications are available describing the pros and cons of the
strategy implemented to expand coverage (hdeman @incap.org.gt).


UC at Davis: Animal Source Foods and Nutrition. Lindsay Allen and Montague
Demment from the University of California, Davis organized the International
Conference on "Animal Source Foods and Nutrition in Developing Countries"
held on June 24-26, 2002 in Washington D.C. The conference focused on the
fact that the lack of animal source foods in human diets is probably the
main cause of micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries and
subsequently of impaired human development and function. Evolutionary and
current evidence for this statement was reviewed. Trends in consumption of
animal source foods were presented and their implications discussed by FAO
and economists. The role of animal source foods in the Nutrition Transition
was considered. The results of the first randomized, controlled trial of the
effects of meat or milk on child development and micronutrient status,
conducted in rural Kenya, was the focus of one session. Constraints to
animal source food production and consumption were discussed at the
household, community and national level. Case studies revealed the successes
and failures of programs to increase the production and/or consumption of
animal products in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Cultural
issues were considered, and economic constraints, solutions and benefits
presented. A policy and research agenda was developed. Overall, there was
consensus that the lack of animal source foods in developing countries is a
serious and neglected nutrition problem, and that there are a number of
steps that can be taken to improve this situation. The conference
presentations will be published as a Supplement to a nutrition journal in
the near future (Lindsay.Allen at mrc-hnr.cam.ac.uk).


Brazil:  Cristina Monte reports that the (long awaited for) new feeding
guidelines for the Brazilian children under two years of age have been
completed and are now available. They were prepared with the participation
of researchers and health professionals all over the country, the Ministry
of Health of Brazil, PAHO/ WHO and the University of Pelotas, Brazil. A copy
of the technical document in pdf format, containing data on the current
children´s food and nutrition situation and the 10 steps to be implemented
to promote complementary feeding, is available at
http://www.opas.org.br/publicacoes2.cfm?codigo=43

Ghana: improving. Eliasu John Mahama the newest member of the Society
reports the development of mother support groups for breastfeding promotion,
protection and support as part of the HIV prevention programme. A food based
strategy for the control of micronutrient deficiencies is also on
implementation together with the fortification of cooking oil (Frytol) with
Vitamin A. In addition, the country network on nutrition and food security
became operational and widely used. Congratulations Eliasu !!!!
(eliasujohn at yahoo.com).


Indonesia: the lessons learned. Ernest Schoeffelen informs that the
University of Gadjah Mada in Jogjakarta will host an international workshop
to: review the advantages and disadvantages of growth compared with
prevalence of underweight as a suitable indicator for monitoring poverty and
human development; define key elements of a system that links child growth,
nutritional status and other human development indicators for different
levels of decision making; and, to identify the role of community Growth
Monitoring and Promotion in combating malnutrition at household-, community-
and national levels. The meeting planned for 10 to 13 November 2002 is
supported by the Ministry of Health of Indonesia, the University of Gadjah
Mada, World Bank and UNICEF and it will include about 25 top international
and national experts on child growth, poverty and economic development
(eschoeffelen at unicef.org).


"Don't give us food, but open your markets because with markets, we can
generate employment and income." words of Alejandro Toledo, President of
Peru, while addressing the UN Assembly at the Special Session on Children in
the name of the 21 countries that form the Iberian American Group
(http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/) .


Rainer Gross, formerly from GTZ and Director of the Institute of Food
security and Nutrition (ISAN) in Lima, Peru, became the chief of the
Nutrition Section at UNICEF New York. People is awaiting his opening
proposals.
xxxxxxxxx
The main objective of the ISPN is to study issues of policy making and
program development related to the human nutrition problem. We want to
provide a space where interested people can meet, be inspired and work, as a
way to create fresh potential  to solve the nutrition problem. The Society
is open to membership of professionals in nutrition, human rights, policy
making and analysis, health, agriculture, food industry, economics, law,
education, justice, labor. The members of the Society, are those of us who
want to work in favour of the nutrition of the people because it is their
right, it is a noble cause, it is just, necessary, feasible - and we can
make a difference. We spend our time on this issue because it is our
personal satisfaction to do so.

Legal registration of the ISPN is being completed as an NGO in Lima, Peru
and at the United Nations in New York.

It is expected that the focal points in each country will advance the
formation of national groups on Public Nutrition which may evolve to the
National Societies of Public Nutrition if they wish. It is also assumed that
the statutes of the National groups will be general, flexible and compatible
with those of the ISPN.

Although we still can not circulate a consensus draft of the Statutes of the
Society it is anticipated that we want them to be simple, flexible,
decentralised, grass roots oriented, plural and democratic.

Intense search is currently being conducted on possible sources of
financing. Yet, the current quality of our membership and the strength of
our commitment are our most powerful resource.

For interaction at this stage we will use e-mail. Suggestions on topics for
discussion are welcome. For each theme there will be a focal point in charge
of facilitating the interaction among participants and producing a summary
of the discussion, including proposals for action.

A call for applications: The Public Nutrition Article of the Year. The floor
is open for applications for this Prize from scientists, activists,
cooperants and all colleagues in the Society. Any member can propose
articles by sending them (e mail or regular mail) and making the proposal
for  nomination. The article must have been published during the period
January- December 2002. The final decision will be made by the Ad-hoc
Committee not later than January 31, 2003 and informed to everybody through
this Bulletin.

Another nomination. The colleague who sends the best contribution to the
ISPN Bulletin during 2002 will receive the nomination of The Bulletin
Contribution of the Year. The winner will be selected among all contributors
before January 31, 2003. Applications are made automatically at the moment
your notes are sent for publication.

The Next Bulletin will come when we have news from you people. Please copy
this letter to those interested in participating. We need name and e- mail
address as the indications of interest.

Opportunities for employment and career development. At the request of
several members, the next issue will include a Section on this theme. Those
of you interested in offering positions, training or looking for them please
send a few lines for publication.

Let us expand our interaction. Let us keep sending our comments, doubts,
questions, additions or corrections in e-mail style in the language we
prefer. We all benefit from  others  opinions and reactions and this Society
will be what her members want. This very little seed is now slowly
germinating with the contributions from all of you, committed , generous
people.

Aaron
 alechtig at terra.com.pe;