Burkina Faso Launches Private/Public Partnership to Save Lives and Combat Childhood Blindness

En français

Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, 29th May 2008 – As part of its effort to control vitamin A deficiency (VAD), the Government of Burkina Faso officially launched vitamin A fortification of cooking oil this afternoon.

VAD is a major contributor to child deaths and the leading cause of childhood blindness. In the 8 nations that comprise the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) zone, it is estimated that controlling VAD will avert over 100,000 child deaths every year, including 20,000 in Burkina Faso alone. Several complementary approaches exist for combating VAD, including vitamin A capsule supplementation and dietary diversification, both of which are part of the Government’s overall approach to combat VAD. 

Food fortification is emerging as one of the most cost-effective and sustainable strategies to help control VAD. Industries incorporate fortification into their corporate social responsibility and it adds value to their products in a competitive marketplace.

The launch is the result of a national and regional private/public partnership with the two cooking oil companies in Burkina Faso (JOSSIRA Industries and SN CITEC), the Government, Helen Keller International (HKI) and other partners, including UEMOA, the Professional Association of Vegetable Oil Producing Industries of the UEMOA zone (AIFO-UEMOA), the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Taiwanese Government, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) the Micronutrient Initiative (MI) the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the West African Health Organization (WAHO).

National and regional dignitaries attended the launch, including the State Minister of Health, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Provincial Governors, the UEMOA Commissioner in charge of Industrial Development, the Director General of the WAHO, the President and the Executive Secretary of AIFO-UEMOA as well as representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, Development Partners and civil society organizations and over 2,000 residents of Bobo-Dioulasso.

The Taiwanese Government in Burkina Faso congratulated the Government of Burkina Faso’s commitment to improving the nutritional well-being of the population by eliminating vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Shawn Baker, HKI’s Africa Regional Director, noted that investing in nutrition in the sub-region is critical in reaching the United Nations Millennium Development Goal for child survival.

The State Minister of Health of Burkina Faso, who is also the President of the National Alliance for Food Fortification (NAFF), noted that vitamin A-fortified oil in Burkina Faso will provide approximately 30% of the recommended daily allowance for this nutrient. He pledged that the government will ensure that appropriate regulations are implemented to promote mandatory fortification of vegetable oil with effective quality control monitoring systems. He congratulated the efforts of the UEMOA Commission in establishing standards for fortifying vegetable oil which included the adoption of a unifying regional logo for branding fortified foods in the region.

He also pledged his full support to ensure effective implementation of the 2006 resolution by the Assembly of Health Ministers to ensure mandatory fortification of vegetable oil and wheat flour in the 15 nation Economic Community of West African States. The launch in Burkina Faso is a significant milestone in the UEMOA-wide “Fortify West Africa” initiative led by HKI. The success of oil fortification has created the foundation for developing a network of flour milling industries in the region to ensure that wheat flour will be fortified with iron, folic acid and zinc, and has accelerated support for developing and adopting standards and regulations for wheat flour fortification.

Baker expressed his gratitude for the financial and technical support of all partners and noted that the strength of the partnership illustrates a quote from Helen Keller: “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

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