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Micronutrients /

Folic Acid

Folic acid helps prevent life-altering birth defects.

Ensuring that women have access to folic acid through supplementation and fortification protects them from anaemia and protects their babies from neural tube defects, should they become pregnant.

All News - Nutrition International and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Help Reduce Neural Tube Defects Through First-Ever Global Folate Strategy

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83

Countries have laws to fortify foods with folic acid

41%

Decrease in incidence of neural tube defects

1.8M

Pregnant women received iron and folic acid supplements

The need

Not having enough folate is among the most common micronutrient deficiencies, with devastating yet preventable impacts.

Pregnant women are at higher risk for folate insufficiency throughout their childbearing years, which means their babies may be born with neural tube defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly. Folic acid deficiency can lead to mental confusion and depression, diarrhoea, or megaloblastic anaemia.

Our solution

Enriching staple foods with folic acid gets this micronutrient to those who need it most.

Nutrition International helps flour and cooking oil producers fortify their products with folic acid and other micronutrients, and assists governments to draft legislation to make it mandatory to fortify wheat flour with folic acid and iron.

Our interventions get folic acid to adolescent girls and women to prevent anaemia and neural tube defects.

We work with governments, NGOs, and the private sector to ensure that folic acid supplements are part of intervention packages delivered through routine health services to women.

We ensure that adolescent girls and pregnant women have access to folic acid by:

  • Improving access to maternal and neonatal care through community-based maternal and newborn health and nutrition projects
  • Distributing iron-folic acid supplements to pregnant women through community health volunteers
  • Socially marketing iron-folic acid supplements to adolescent girls through community health workers
  • Leading folic acid advocacy efforts
  • Working with key stakeholders to reduce neural tube defects

Our Global Projects

Discover our projects around the world

Find Nutrition International folic acid projects.

Browse more projects like these

Bridging the fortification gap in the Philippines

Nutrition International is leading a collaborative effort to improve the micronutrient status of women, adolescent girls and children in the Philippines by improving fortification policies.

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Bridging the fortification gap in the Philippines

Realizing Gender Equality, Attitudinal Change and Transformative Systems in…

REACTS-IN contributes to achieving global nutrition targets by improving the health and nutrition of women, adolescent girls and children under five in Bangladesh, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.

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Realizing Gender Equality, Attitudinal Change and Transformative Systems in Nutrition (REACTS-IN)

Increasing iron and folic acid, and calcium supplementation adherence in India

Nutrition International is conducting implementation research to evaluate an enhanced program model to increase adherence to iron and folic acid and calcium supplementation for pregnant women in India

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Increasing iron and folic acid, and calcium supplementation adherence in India

Improving quality nutrition services across the first 1,000 days in Gujarat and…

Nutrition International is implementing and evaluating a model for the improved quality of nutrition services across the first 1,000 days in two districts in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, India.

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Improving quality nutrition services across the first 1,000 days in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh in India

Institutionalizing mandatory oil and wheat flour fortification in Pakistan

With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will help to take Pakistan's large-scale food fortification programs to the next level.

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hand holding spade of wheat flour in Pakistan

Related

Field Story

NourishMaa campaign supports healthcare providers to improve maternal health in…

In Pakistan, the NourishMaa campaign provides comprehensive training on maternal nutrition, antenatal care and postnatal care, emphasizing the importance of community engagement and counselling.

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project

Folate Task Team

Through an NTEAM global nutrition task team, we’re laying the groundwork for implementing a global strategy to control folate insufficiency and prevent related neural tube defects.

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Women

Improving women’s health and nutrition promotes gender equality and…

Women and girls can have better opportunities to earn, learn, grow and lead when they have adequate nutrition. They must be empowered advocates for their own health and nutrition.

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