Junaid Family Fdn & Kirk Humanitarian Provide Urgent Nutrition Support for Pregnant Woman Affected by Pakistan Floods

Junaid Family Foundation and Kirk Humanitarian act to stabilize undernutrition and anemia for hundreds of thousands of pregnant girls affected by floods in Pakistan

CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES, December 18, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Junaid Family Foundation and Kirk Humanitarian in the present day introduced the joint donation of as much as 2 million bottles of United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (UNIMMAP MMS) to the Government of Pakistan by way of the National Disaster Management Association (NDMA) in assist of pressing vitamin wants for pregnant girls displaced by the catastrophic floods within the Sindh area and elsewhere in Pakistan.

This donation is an emergency enlargement of assist stemming from an current prenatal program in collaboration with the MNHSP began in 2020 which helps distribution of MMS and schooling round prenatal vitamin freed from cost to girls who would in any other case not have entry. Over 1 million bottles are at the moment enroute with plans for quick distribution in 3 key areas, Sindh, Balochistan, and KPK.

Maternal vitamin throughout being pregnant is vital for maternal and little one well being outcomes and survival. Under non-crisis conditions, Pakistan’s statistics as regards to the well being of pregnant girls and infants are a number of the most regarding on the earth. [1] Insufficient vitamin is a major issue within the morbidity and mortality outcomes impacting each populations. Micronutrient deficiencies are in depth throughout Pakistan with anemia being a typical situation and vital deficiencies in different key micronutrients together with vitamin A, vitamin D, and zinc. Similar deficiencies are additionally pervasive in toddler and little one populations. [2]

The monsoon rains and resultant flooding this previous summer time have left roughly one-third of the nation beneath water. Economic losses and damages are estimated at over 30 billion USD with reconstruction wants over 16 billion USD. [3] A big meals disaster could also be looming for Pakistan, which makes the 1.5 million pregnant girls displaced by this case much more susceptible. According to Ansir Junaid, Trustee and Chairman of The Junaid Family Foundation, “The destruction attributable to flooding all through a lot of Pakistan is meaningless. Starvation as a consequence of lack of meals shops and the infrastructure to course of and transfer meals across the nation is being felt considerably by hundreds of thousands. Pregnant girls and infants are essentially the most susceptible of all, and we’re dedicated to offer assist to assist alleviate a portion of this struggling.”

Evidence supporting using MMS, particularly the UNIMMAP formulation, to enhance outcomes for pregnant girls and infants is nicely supported. According to research printed by the Lancet [4] and the New York Academy of Sciences, [5] using prenatal dietary supplements containing 15 micronutrients assist enhancements in toddler survival (29% discount in neonatal mortality) and scale back incidence of low delivery weight and small for gestational age births, particularly with anemic moms. UNIMMAP MMS is the one prenatal vitamin complement endorsed by each the United Nations and WHO for supplemental vitamin inside public well being vitamin packages.

For the previous 2 many years, Kirk Humanitarian has been working to enhance maternal and toddler well being by increasing world entry to UNIMMAP MMS. Kirk Humanitarian manufactures and donates UNIMMAP MMS freed from cost to certified recipients who’ve the capability to distribute product to girls in want. Through Kirk Humanitarian’s partnership with The Junaid Family Foundation, a program has been designed and launched in collaboration with the MNHSP to facilitate introduction and finally the inclusion of UNIMMAP MMS administration as a standardized follow of prenatal well being in Pakistan. Spencer Kirk, Managing Director at Kirk Humanitarian mentioned: “In emergency conditions equivalent to this, assembly the quick dietary wants of pregnant girls with MMS, particularly United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation (UNIMMAP MMS), is critically necessary. At the identical time, we’ve got and can proceed to assist long-term and sustainable implementation efforts to introduce and scale UNIMMAP MMS in low- and middle-income nations utilizing an implementation science strategy.”

Last 12 months The Junaid Family Foundation and Kirk Humanitarian launched a pilot program with UNIMMAP MMS bottles (126K) distributed throughout 7 districts of Pakistan. Results so far align with prior MMS research supporting that MMS has low unwanted side effects with few discontinuation charges. Given the present disaster inside the nation, The Junaid Family Foundation and Kirk Humanitarian have pledged elevated assist to help those that have been displaced by the floods and lack entry to important vitamin.

1 Aziz et al. Reprod Health 2020, 17(Suppl 3):190 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-020-01023-5
2 Ministry of National Health Services Nutrition Wing, 2018. National Nutrition Survey 2018 Key Findings Report: 6.
3 World Bank Group. (2022b, October 28). Pakistan: Flood Damages and Economic Losses Over USD 30 billion and Reconstruction Needs Over USD 16 billion – New Assessment. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/10/28/pakistan-flood-damages-and-economic-losses-over-usd-30-billion-and-reconstruction-needs-over-usd-16-billion-new-assessme
4 Smith et al., The Lancet Global Health 5 (11) (November): e1090-e1100.
5 Black et al, Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019 May; 1444(1): 3-5.

Jacqueline Sanders
The Junaid Family Foundation
+1 917-566-0624
[email protected]