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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...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2017
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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. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5490555 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
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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