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Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop

Scientific experts from nine countries gathered to share their views and experience around iron interventions in Africa. Inappropriate eating habits, infections and parasitism are responsible for significant prevalence of iron deficiency, but reliable and country-comparable prevalence estimates are...

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Autores principales: Mwangi, Martin N., Phiri, Kamija S., Abkari, Abdelhak, Gbané, Mory, Bourdet-Sicard, Raphaelle, Braesco, Véronique Azaïs, Zimmermann, Michael B., Prentice, Andrew M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5490555/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28587263
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu9060576
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author Mwangi, Martin N.
Phiri, Kamija S.
Abkari, Abdelhak
Gbané, Mory
Bourdet-Sicard, Raphaelle
Braesco, Véronique Azaïs
Zimmermann, Michael B.
Prentice, Andrew M.
author_facet Mwangi, Martin N.
Phiri, Kamija S.
Abkari, Abdelhak
Gbané, Mory
Bourdet-Sicard, Raphaelle
Braesco, Véronique Azaïs
Zimmermann, Michael B.
Prentice, Andrew M.
author_sort Mwangi, Martin N.
collection PubMed
description Scientific experts from nine countries gathered to share their views and experience around iron interventions in Africa. Inappropriate eating habits, infections and parasitism are responsible for significant prevalence of iron deficiency, but reliable and country-comparable prevalence estimates are lacking: improvements in biomarkers and cut-offs values adapted to context of use are needed. Benefits of iron interventions on growth and development are indisputable and outweigh risks, which exist in populations with a high infectious burden. Indeed, pathogen growth may increase with enhanced available iron, calling for caution and preventive measures where malaria or other infections are prevalent. Most African countries programmatically fortify flour and supplement pregnant women, while iron deficiency in young children is rather addressed at individual level. Coverage and efficacy could improve through increased access for target populations, raised awareness and lower cost. More bioavailable iron forms, helping to decrease iron dose, or prebiotics, which both may lower risk of infections are attractive opportunities for Africa. Fortifying specific food products could be a relevant route, adapted to local context and needs of population groups while providing education and training. More globally, partnerships involving various stakeholders are encouraged, that could tackle all aspects of the issue.
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spelling pubmed-54905552017-07-03 Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop Mwangi, Martin N. Phiri, Kamija S. Abkari, Abdelhak Gbané, Mory Bourdet-Sicard, Raphaelle Braesco, Véronique Azaïs Zimmermann, Michael B. Prentice, Andrew M. Nutrients Meeting Report Scientific experts from nine countries gathered to share their views and experience around iron interventions in Africa. Inappropriate eating habits, infections and parasitism are responsible for significant prevalence of iron deficiency, but reliable and country-comparable prevalence estimates are lacking: improvements in biomarkers and cut-offs values adapted to context of use are needed. Benefits of iron interventions on growth and development are indisputable and outweigh risks, which exist in populations with a high infectious burden. Indeed, pathogen growth may increase with enhanced available iron, calling for caution and preventive measures where malaria or other infections are prevalent. Most African countries programmatically fortify flour and supplement pregnant women, while iron deficiency in young children is rather addressed at individual level. Coverage and efficacy could improve through increased access for target populations, raised awareness and lower cost. More bioavailable iron forms, helping to decrease iron dose, or prebiotics, which both may lower risk of infections are attractive opportunities for Africa. Fortifying specific food products could be a relevant route, adapted to local context and needs of population groups while providing education and training. More globally, partnerships involving various stakeholders are encouraged, that could tackle all aspects of the issue. MDPI 2017-06-05 /pmc/articles/PMC5490555/ /pubmed/28587263 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu9060576 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Meeting Report
Mwangi, Martin N.
Phiri, Kamija S.
Abkari, Abdelhak
Gbané, Mory
Bourdet-Sicard, Raphaelle
Braesco, Véronique Azaïs
Zimmermann, Michael B.
Prentice, Andrew M.
Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop
title Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop
title_full Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop
title_fullStr Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop
title_full_unstemmed Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop
title_short Iron for Africa—Report of an Expert Workshop
title_sort iron for africa—report of an expert workshop
topic Meeting Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5490555/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28587263
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu9060576
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