Vitamin Angels received the below update and photos from our partners at Cristo Salva in Honduras where they are distributing children's multivitamins and prenatal vitamins.

We continue to see a marked difference in those that take vitamins and deworming meds and those that do not.

We are “catching up” with our deworming, but should be up to speed by the end of the school year in December.  We have found a few “bellys” so we have our work cut out for us. 

With the country just coming out of the political situation from last year, schools continue to close for multiple days at a time.  We have children actually complaining to the teachers that they want their vitamins!

More children are wearing shoes, cutting down on soil contamination.  Clean water is an ongoing issue, partly by the fact that they turn the water off almost every day, making it difficult to obtain water except from a river or contaminated source.   We have dug two wells on our property and trying to find ways to get the water to the folks in the communities. 

We are now holding partera education classes (midwives). The local parteras are pushing the need for the prenatal vitamins and diet (as they can find food).  We continue to see healthy babies. The goal is every woman child bearing age to stay on the vitamins.  We have a long road ahead, but with education, even the teenagers are asking for the “big vitamin”.  

We realize that the program is a “gift”. We know we have over extended the time allotted to us, but are so appreciative of the continued support.  I personally have learned quite a bit fumbling my way through all of this, not an expert by any means, but now much more able to understand what is required to run a program such as this. We are learning as we grow. 

I am enclosing photos. Again, thank you.
Pat Havener RN
Medical Director
Cristo Salva
www.cristosalva.org   
 

Crop failure and poor harvests as a result of prolonged drought in West Africa’s Sahel region have led to food shortages and increased rates of malnutrition in the surrounding areas. A nationwide survey found that nearly 17 percent of Niger’s under-five children suffer from acute malnutrition. That’s a 42 percent increase from the same period last year.

According to an article from IRIN news, “nearly half of Niger’s children are chronically under-nourished and are lacking life-saving nutrients. “ The most affected regions are Diffa, Maradi, Zinderand Tahoua, where acute malnutrition falls into WHO’s critical threshold. “Nearly half a million children are acutely malnourished, including some 87,000 severely malnourished.”

Neighboring countries Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon are also facing shortages and malnutrition risks.  NEMA (Nigeria Emergency Management Agency) estimated that 12 million people across the north could face a lack of basic commodities. 

Vitamin Angels is supplying 767,000 doses of vitamin A to Niger this year. We are also working to reach the populations of Chad and Nigeria with essential nutrients.

Read the article >>

Watch a BBC News report >>
 

An article released from IRIN earlier this month explained how the supplementation of vitamin A from Helen Keller International has led to an increase in acceptance of polio vaccines from parents for their children. As explained by the World Health Organization website, “polio is a viral disease transmitted through contaminated food and water. The disease affects mostly children and its symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, it causes paralysis, which is often permanent. Polio can only be prevented by immunization.”

Although Nigeria hopes to eradicate polio by 2015, the vaccine has met resistance from some religious groups and traditional leaders.  However thanks in large part to general acceptance of vitamin A supplementation, which is distributed in order to reduce child mortality, river blindness, malaria, and other infectious diseases, HKI has been able to successfully use vitamin A distributions as an entrée to parental acceptance polio vaccines during government immunizations and health days. “Now almost every household brings its under-fives for polio immunization once it is accompanied by a Vitamin A supplement,” local government immunization officer Mamman Isa told IRIN.

WHO reports that the number of polio cases has plummeted in the area by 99 percent – from 289 to three – in June 2010.
 

Read the article>>

Reuters reported on a study published by the Lancet on Wednesday which estimated that more than two thirds of the estimated 8.8 million under-five child deaths were caused by infectious diseases, like pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. At least 41% (3.6 million) of deaths in under-fives occurred in newly born babies, or neonates. The region with most deaths was Africa at 4.2 million, followed by southeast Asia at 2.4 million.

Read the Reuters article >>
 

Our partners in Nepal, Bodhi Tree Foundation, sent us this story and pictures of Pasang and her new baby boy.

As we settled into our camp in Yalbang, a small Buddhist village in northern Humla, the man of a pregnant woman came to find us.  He had heard that there was a Nepali Health Worker and two western Nurses in town and was in need of our services.  His wife, Pasang, was in labor with her fourth pregnancy (of which only two children were still alive).

In a dark corner of the one room home we found Pasang laboring quietly by herself.  She allowed me to do a cervical check on her to determine how far along she was in her dilatation.  Since she was still in early labor we decided to head back to camp for a short while and instructed the family to come get us if there was any change. Two hours later we returned to find Pasang still in early labor.  While we waited for her labor to progress we were honored to be part of unique religious ceremony performed by a local monk to promote a safe, healthy birth for both mother and child.

After several more hours, I performed another cervical exam which indicated that Pasang was still in early labor.  Against my better judgement we were told to go back to camp and await their message for us to come back for the delivery.  We left Pasang and her husband with two clean delivery kits and new baby blankets.

When I awoke early the next morning I had a gut feeling that Pasang had delivered during the night.  I quickly walked the twenty minutes down to her home and entered the dark room to find her in different corner.  I knew instantly that she had had the baby.  The husband informed me that there was no time to get us.  Pasang had stood up, asked him for the ‘plastic’, moved to the other side of the room (where she was allowed to deliver), and the next thing he heard was a baby crying.  She had a baby boy and had done the entire delivery herself.  I was so happy for them and so sad for me since I had missed the delivery.  They allowed me to check the newborn, clean him up and to sterilize and re-cut the umbilical cord.  Pasang and her baby were both healthy and stable.  We gave her a year’s supply of pre/postnatal vitamins and instructed her on proper use.  I look forward to seeing Pasang and her baby when I return to Nepal this spring.

Vitamin Angels is so happy to be able to connect Pasang with the essential nutrients that will give her baby the foundation for a healthy life.
 

IRIN news released an article last month announcing significant efforts are underway to improve the nutritional status of children and women across Nepal. A report from the Department of Health and UNICEF released in early March found that “50 percent of Nepali children are malnourished.”  More than a quarter of the country’s women were found to be malnourished, and poor maternal health among Nepali mothers has been shown to directly contribute to diminished child nutrition.

The Nepali government has been criticized by a number of NGOs and nutrition workers for not doing enough to educate women and health workers about nutrition, especially in the most remote areas. Struck by the results of the March report, officials say a combined effort by a range of ministries is underway to improve maternal and child nutrition in Nepal. The World Bank is providing significant new funding for nutrition, to be used within the Nepal Health Sector Program, which aims to “expand access to and the use of essential health care services in Nepal.” Still, officials say challenges lie ahead at the local level and target area-focus programs at community-level remain absent.

Read the full article>> 

Read about Vitamin Angels’ efforts in the remote district of Humlu, Nepal>>
 

Our in-country field partners in Liberia, Reclaim Kids, sent us this photo yesterday of some of our beneficiaries from Paynesville Liberia. The Paynesville Health Clinic serves 3,000 children under five, assisting them with preventive care and treatment.