Cross posted from : EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org
The Lancet Series, Maternal and child undernutrition
Effective international action against undernutrition: why has it proven so difficult and what can be done to accelerate progress?
Saul S Morris, Bruce Cogill and Ricardo Uauy for the Maternal and Child Undernutrition Study Group Members
The Lancet, Volume 371, Number 9612, 16 February 2008
Available online at:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS014067360761695X/fulltext
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The pattern repeats itself here. Undernutrition persists, because the system to address it has flaws --no emphasis made on the social and political determinants of malnutrition that, in fact, perpetuate the problem. Does the Lancet see it otherwise? Again, a letter to the Lancet will probably be of no help.
Claudio
"…..Many transnational organisations work to support efforts to eliminate maternal and child undernutrition in high-burden countries. Financial, intellectual, and personal linkages bind these organisations loosely together as components of an international nutrition system. In this paper, we argue that such a system should deliver in four functional areas: stewardship, mobilisation of financial resources, direct provision of nutrition services at times of natural disaster or conflict, and human and institutional resource strengthening. We review quantitative and qualitative data from various sources to assess the performance of the system in each of these areas, and find substantial shortcomings.
Fragmentation, lack of an evidence base for prioritised action, institutional inertia, and failure to join up with promising developments in parallel sectors are recurrent themes. Many of these weaknesses can be attributed to systemic problems affecting most organisations working in the field; these are analysed using a problem tree approach. We also make recommendations to overcome some of the most important problems, and we propose five priority actions for the development of a new international architecture…."
Maternal and child undernutrition: effective action at national level
Jennifer Bryce, Denise Coitinho, Ian Darnton-Hill, David Pelletier, Per Pinstrup-Andersen
The Lancet, Volume 371, Number 9611, 9 February 2008
Available at:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607616948/fulltext
What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival
Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Tahmeed Ahmed, Robert E Black, Simon Cousens Kathryn Dewey, Elsa Giugliani, Batool A Haider , Betty Kirkwood, Saul S Morris, HPS Sachdev and Meera Shekar
The Lancet, Volume 371, Number 9610, 2 February 2008
Full text available online at:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607616936/fulltext
Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital
Cesar G Victora, Linda Adair, Caroline Fall, Pedro C Hallal, Reynaldo Martorell, Linda Richter, Harshpal Singh Sachdev
The Lancet, Volume 371, Number 9609, 26 January 2008
Available online at;
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607616924/fulltext
Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences
Robert E Black, Lindsay H Allen, Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Laura E Caulfield, Mercedes de Onis, Majid Ezzati, Colin Mathers, Juan Rivera
The Lancet, Volume 371, Number 9608, 19 January 2008
Available online at:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607616900/fulltext
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Mrs. Ana Lucia Ruggiero (WDC)
mailto:ruglucia@paho.org