GAIN is working with Project Healthy Children to help improve nutrition in Liberia by supporting a program to accelerate food fortification in a country which is battling Ebola.
Despite the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Liberia’s fortification program has made impressive strides in the past few months thanks to our hard-working partners on the ground, according to Project Healthy Children, an organization which works closely with governments, private industries, and partner agencies to support the design and implementation of food fortification programs around the world.
Doctors in blue uniform walking down the street. © Unsplash
It said despite the burden to the healthcare system, while the country battles the worst outbreak of Ebola in history, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the National Standards Laboratory, and the National Fortification Alliance have pushed forward with the food fortification program.
"Due to this rapid progress, GAIN agreed to donate two additional iChecks – one for sugar to be placed in the lab, and one for oil, to be placed at the Port of Monrovia — all of which will lead to ongoing compliance and monitoring."
Liberia’s first group of inspectors from the Ministries of Finance, Health and Social Welfare, and Commerce were trained on sampling and inspection procedures in July and three months later the first domestically produced and imported samples of fortified foods were received and tested at the National Standards Laboratory.
Project Healthy Children said that further work will be done to ensure all foods are fortified at the prescribed levels, but so far all samples were fortified, indicating an important first step for the Liberia program.
"These achievements would not have been possible without the support of our donors. Project Healthy Children is extremely proud of the progress that the team in Liberia has enabled over the past several months."
GAIN’s Director of Large Scale Food Fortification, Greg S. Garrett, said: "GAIN is committed to ensuring a strong enforcement and monitoring of the program and will work with the government and Project Healthy Children on this process."
Find out how GAIN is improving nutrition around the world through large scale food fortification.
Click here to Project Healty Children's article.