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2007 CTAUN Conference Responding to Children and Youth in Crisis: Educators in Partnership with the UN Friday, 2 February 2007, 9:15am to 5:00 pm

Morning Panel—Health and Nutrition

Carolyn Donovan, CTAUN Second Vice-Chair and NGO Representative for the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Panel Coordinator. The panel coordinator, Carolyn Donovan, opened the session by pointing out that United Nations agencies are encouraged to partner with NGOs and civil society to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which are time-bound and measurable. It is important to recognize how issues related to health and nutrition have become increasingly important for achieving these goals. She then introduced the speakers. Dr. Peter Salama, Moderator/Speaker for the Panel, is Chief of the Health Section of UNICEF. Dr. Salama began by stating that the greatest crisis for children today is that ten million children under five die annually, largely from preventable causes, and forty percent of those die in their first month of life. Under-nutrition accounts for about fifty percent of those deaths. In fact, 146 million children are underweight around the world. Fifty million children in India alone are underweight. There are two additional factors that are overturning whatever progress has been made—the HIV/AIDS pandemic and armed conflict. In southern Africa, HIV/AIDS has reversed all of the gains made in under-five mortality. Dr. Salama said that he had worked in Afghanistan and saw first-hand what it is like for children to live in a country that has undergone years of civil war. There is progress, as a strong evidence base shows what is required to reverse this trend in under-five mortality. Advances such as the use of medicated bed nets to protect against malaria, re-hydration treatment for diarrhea, HIV treatments, vaccinations against measles, and the addition of vitamin A to the diets, all have helped to decrease the number of deaths. In addition, there is unprecedented interest in and funding for global health. Many governments, foundations (such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) and NGOs are financing these advances as well as supporting the health education of women, who are in the forefront of safeguarding children. These efforts have decreased the incidence of the mortality of children under five by twenty percent in a number of developing countries. UNICEF is one of the main players in this effort, spending over one billion dollars a year on children’s health, and is devoted to careful evaluation of the effectiveness of its investments. UNICEF also needs the support of civil society to continue to develop successful programs and of institutions like CTAUN to educate the public about its efforts. Nicole Johnson Baker, Miss America 1999, an international diabetes advocate, serves as the first Ambassador for the International Diabetes Federation’s “Life for a Child” program and co-hosts the weekly CNBC diabetes talk show “dLife”. Ms. Baker, herself a victim of Type 1 Diabetes, told of her own experiences as a young person with diabetic symptoms that were continually misdiagnosed. She spoke about the effects of diabetes on later complications, and the cost both to the sufferers and their communities. There are no statistics as to the number of Type 1 sufferers in the world, as they do not survive very long, but there are possibly 246 million diabetics in the world today, which will increase to 400 million in 20 years. There are 21 million diabetics in the U. S., and 40 million with pre-diabetes symptoms. Fifteen percent of the population in the United States is overweight, a number that is expected to double in the next two decades. Some populations, including African Americans and Native Americans, are particularly vulnerable. What can be done? There are several interventions that are helpful: losing weight, even a modest amount; walking for five days a week for thirty minutes; eating meals that are lower in calories. Fifty to sixty percent of possible sufferers could avoid becoming diabetic and experiencing future consequences such as amputations and heart and kidney diseases. Schools have the responsibility to change their cafeteria menus, offer more physical education and health classes, including lessons specifically about diabetes. There needs to be a re-invigorated approach to understanding diabetes on the part of educators. Ms. Baker’s story about an administrator who pulled an insulin pump off of a girl student because she mistook it for a cell phone and intended to confiscate it vividly illustrated this point. Finally, it is necessary for educators to keep in mind the feelings of children, who may be self-conscious and embarrassed about a diabetic condition. It is necessary to help them cope and realize that they can become self-sufficient. Dr. Victor Mari Ortega, Deputy Director, New York Office of the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS). Dr. Ortega pointed out that 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV and 4.3 million were added to that number in 2006. One half of this number are young people in the 15-24 year old age range. If we were to include sexually transmitted infections other than HIV, the number would rise to 100 million episodes annually. More time needs to be given to education about these diseases. The aim of the 2001 U. N. Declaration of Commitment in fighting AIDS, that 90 percent of young people should understand ways of preventing AIDS by 2005, has been nowhere near achieved. When the program was evaluated in 2006, no country had achieved the goal of 90 percent. In fact, the highest number achieved by any country was 50 percent. Overall, for males, only 33 percent achieved that degree of understanding. For females, the number was even fewer. For example, in twenty-one African countries, 60 percent of the young women had not even heard of or had misconceptions about HIV. Teachers play a key role. The United Nations has come up with lofty goals, but it is necessary for education to achieve them. Teachers must go beyond the risk of infection and address changes in behavior. When there is HIV/AIDS education, the age of sexual debut becomes later. Sexual relationships are difficult to discuss whether they lead to delay in sexual activity or the promotion of the use of condoms. Schools and other institutions need to provide youth-friendly services such as discussions and information giving. Young people themselves are creative and enthusiastic and can help towards the solution of these problems. Mark Fryars, Director, Program Services, The Micronutrient Initiative, Ottawa, Canada. Mr. Fryars stressed the devastating effects of malnutrition as a cause of reduced physical and mental development in children and adults. As a teacher he had seen children from sugar plantation villages who assuaged their hunger with sugar cane and were then unable to pay attention in class. While obesity can cause one kind of disease, the wrong kind of food can cause another. Proteins are essential for energy, but the “hidden hunger” of lack of vitamins and minerals—micronutrients—can cause critical damage to the development of thought and the life cycle in general. Two billion people suffer from iron deficiency anemia, thirty babies are born every minute with mental deficiencies, an enormous burden on communities. For example, 8 percent of Gross Domestic Product is lost in Bangladesh due to disease. So what can be done? People can be educated on the importance of the right kind of diet. Women, the primary care givers for children, need to be educated, empowered, and the health of mothers protected. Simple measures such as encouraging breast-feeding, the addition of iodine to salt and of zinc and vitamin A to the diet are not costly. Big food companies can add those nutrients to the food they sell, and governments and the media, as well as consumers, can insist they do so.

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