VAD

17 March 2005

A. Lorch, Greenpeace March 2005

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) affects about 40% of the world population. Many of those affected from vitamin and mineral deficiencies (VMD) appear to have enough to eat but still regularly miss vitamins and micronutrients such as iron, iodine or calcium in their diet. VAD especially affects small children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, resulting in higher suspectibility to other diseases and irreversible blindness. VAD can be combated with a variety of food and medicine-based approaches, including house gardens, increased food diversity, food fortification and medical vitamin A supplementation. Promising results come from countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Nepal and the Philippines, where the irreversible blindness of children could be eliminated.

15 March 2005

The goal of combating VAD is not to provide medical treatment, it is to avoid VAD and another VMDs. By combating VAD with home gardens, sustainable systems are created that provide food security and diversity from the grassroots level - in a way that empowers women and protects agro-biodiversity.

Powered by Drupal, an open source content management system