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Nutrition International, Teck and Global Affairs Canada renew partnership to save children’s lives with zinc treatments
Nutrition International, Teck Resources Limited (Teck) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) today announce a renewed partnership to reach millions of children with zinc treatments to help save lives in Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya and Bangladesh.
Posted on September 28, 2017
OTTAWA, CANADA – Nutrition International, Teck Resources Limited (Teck) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) today announce a renewed partnership to reach millions of children with zinc treatments to help save lives in Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya and Bangladesh.
This renewed partnership in the Zinc Alliance for Child Health (ZACH), which first launched in 2011, will further increase access to zinc and oral rehydration salt (ORS) for diarrhoea treatment. Nutrition International is providing program support as well as allocating $3M CAD in funding, received from GAC, to a public-private partnership with Teck, who has contributed $1M CAD.
“Millions of children to date have received life-saving zinc treatments through this partnership, but we know there is more work to be done and more children who need help,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO, Teck. “We are proud to be renewing this successful collaboration with the Government of Canada and Nutrition International to reach even more children in need and save more lives.”
The partnership between Nutrition International, Teck and GAC demonstrates how public-private-civil society alliances can take an active role to help save the lives of children and achieve significant results. Building on the successes of the first ZACH program, the partnership will sustain zinc and ORS coverage and improve care-seeking for childhood diarrhoeal diseases in Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal and Bangladesh, aiming to administer more than 44 million zinc and ORS treatments and educate more than 61,000 health workers.
“High impact partnerships such as ZACH, which brings together the expertise and resources of the not-for-profit, government and private sectors, are key to getting lifesaving interventions to those who need them most,” said Nutrition International President and CEO Joel Spicer. “Diarrhoea remains a leading killer of children under five, claiming the lives of more than half a million children annually. Nutrition International is pleased to continue its partnership with Teck and the Government of Canada to save lives, and help kids thrive.”
Zinc and ORS is the World Health Organization recommended treatment for childhood diarrhoea, as it helps children recover faster, resist the disease for longer periods and have fewer episodes per year. In the last five years alone, ZACH has helped treat 44 million episodes of childhood diarrhoea among children under five.
Teck is committed to raising awareness and helping solve the global health issue of zinc deficiency. To learn more about Teck’s Zinc & Health program, visit www.zincsaveslives.com
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