Vitamin supplement programme inaugurated
You may have seen the public service announcements extolling the virtues of eating foods rich in vitamins and minerals. But beyond the hype, evidence continues to mount that childhood nutrition is critical to future development. Today the Ministry of Health launched an effort to make sure that Belizeans get what they need from a very early age.
Ann-Marie Williams
Health is more than just the absence of disease; it’s a comfortable level of man’s interaction with the total environment. Today the Ministry of Health through its maternal and child health clinics is making sure Belizean children and mothers get a good start. They have officially launched their Vitamin A supplement programme.
Health professionals from all over the country converged on the grounds of the Cleopatra White Health Centre for the launch. For Dr. Cardo Martinez, Director of the Maternal and Child Health Programme, the micronutrients programme is critical to a good start in life.
Dr. Cardo Martinez, Dir. Maternal and Child Health Programme
“It gives everybody regardless of economic class a better cutting edge, a better ability to grasp the opportunities out there. What the micronutrient initiative does, is that it decreases your susceptibility to minor illnesses and it enhances the cognitive capacity of the brain, which basically is saying that it enhances the capacity of the brain even for those that under normal circumstances were determined to be healthy. The micronutrients widen their scope to comprehend, which includes analyze and learn, so that magnifies them. This has nothing to do with poverty, this has to do with enhancing everybody’s opportunity even my own child’s opportunity.”
Public health officials say that there is evidence to show that women who take Vitamin A give birth to healthier children. Figures show that taking Vitamin A reduces maternal mortality by thirty-eight percent in Belize.
The official programme launch was done by Health Minister Jose Coye and Nurse Melinda Guerra, who gave the first Vitamin A tablet to pregnant mom Donna Castillo. He also reminded the gathering that health and economic growth are linked and that it is imperative that we invest in the health of our nation. Today’s micronutrient launch is part of an ongoing programme of cooperation between UNICEF Belize and the Ministry of Health. The Programme Officer is Roy Bowen.
Roy Bowen, Programme Officer, UNICEF
“UNICEF will meet the cost of initiating this programme, which we have done today. The total cost is something like sixteen thousand Belize dollars. That’s to purchase the micronutrients and also to assist in the public relations programme. The Ministry of Health will afterwards take on the cost of purchasing the additional micronutrients that will be needed. I think we should look not so much on the initial investment as the minister rightly said. But the larger impact it will have on the families, the lives of children who need an early start, who need a good start.”
Ann-Marie Williams for News Five.
The UNICEF funds should maintain the programme for two years, at which time government will assume the responsibility for its continuation.
