2013 LANCET SERIES ON MATERNAL AND CHILD NUTRITION LAUNCHED IN INDIA
With the goal of inspiring political commitment and engaging key stakeholders in a dialogue about opportunities for progress in nutrition in India, the 2013 Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition was launched in New Delhi on Friday, 28 June, 2013. The event was hosted by POSHAN partners the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India, and supported by POSHAN and the Micronutrient Initiative.
The launch in India sought to engage key stakeholders in nutrition to consider the challenges and opportunities for improving nutrition in India. The event featured presentations of the series papers, an engaging panel discussion, and an open dialogue with the audience.
The event drew a standing-room only crowd of more than 230 stakeholder participants and reporters from 40 media outlets. Authors Bob Black, Harold Alderman, Venkatesh Mannar and Purnima Menon opened the half-day session with a technical briefing that included a presentation of Series findings followed by an interactive discussion with the audience.
The technical briefing was chaired by Minister Jairam Ramesh, who delivered powerful remarks that focused on the role of sanitation – highlighted in the Series as a critical nutrition-sensitive intervention – in promoting nutrition. The Minister also used the opportunity to announce plans to expand a successful community-based Ministry program to provide nutritious meals to women and children at a sustainable cost.
Following the technical briefing, the event concluded with a political panel designed to focus squarely on the nutrition challenges in India, highlight success stories and discuss the way forward. The panel included Prof. K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI); Dr. Vinod Paul, Professor and Head of the Department of Pediatrics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Vandana Krishna, Secretary and Commissioner of Women and Child Development for the State of Maharashtra (profiled as a success story in the Lancet Series) and Neerja Chaudhry, widely acclaimed journalist and outspoken supporter of the need to improve nutrition in India.
POSHAN Co-Director Purnima Menon and Micronutrient Initiative President Venkatesh Mannar, both series co-authors, wrote an impassioned and personal call-to-action for India to use this new evidence to benefit current and future generations of Indian children faced with malnutrition.
Other related content:
"From Traction to Action", TransformNutrition blog post by Stuart Gillespie
"G8, build political will to overcome malnutrition", IFPRI Food Policy Blog post by Stuart Gillespie and Marie Ruel
"Food for politics", in the Indian Express Op-ed, by Harold Alderman and Purnima Menon
"Impact that lasts a lifetime", Op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen by Venkatesh Mannar and Sue Horton
"Unpalatable Truths", Op-ed in the Hindustani Times by K Srinath Reddy
