OTTAWA, Ontario–Teck Resources Limited joined The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Micronutrient Initiative (MI) to develop and sustain zinc treatment programs to help save children´s lives, showing how natural product businesses can form working relationships with nonprofit organizations to help save the lives of children and of the world´s most vulnerable.
This new relationship is a public-private-civil society alliance committed to reducing child mortality by scaling up the use of zinc, combined with oral rehydration salts, to treat diarrhea, and by providing zinc supplementation for children over 6 months old. Each partner will commit resources and leverage support from other private sector and public. As the partnership grows, it is anticipated that other stakeholders will join in this effort to strengthen health programs for children.
“The challenge the world faces is not producing more zinc. It is getting zinc into the diets of people suffering from zinc deficiency," said Don Lindsay, president and CEO of Teck Resources. “By partnering with the CIDA and the Micronutrient Initiative, we are putting in place a framework to dramatically improve awareness about zinc deficiency, enhance distribution systems and ultimately save children´s lives."
The first project under the Zinc Alliance for Child Health will be to support the Ministry of Health in Senegal to dramatically scale up the use of zinc supplements, along with oral rehydration salts, for the treatment of diarrhea. “We have been preparing to introduce zinc supplementation in the health system in Senegal for some time," said Dr. Mame Mbayame Gueye Dione, head of the Senegal Ministry of Health´s division of food, nutrition and child survival. “The financial and technical support from this partnership gives us the resources to bring this new treatment to scale in the country and save children´s lives."
Zinc is essential for all living organisms. In children, zinc is vital for brain development, growth and the immune system. It can help protect the body from illnesses and to fight infections. According to the World Health Organization, zinc deficiency is one of the leading risk factors associated with diseases such as diarrhea, and one of the most common killers of children in developing countries, contributing to the deaths of 450,000 children under the age of 5 each year.
MI is an Ottawa-based, international nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that the world's most vulnerable—especially women and children—in developing countries get the vitamins and minerals they need to survive and thrive through supplementation and food fortification programs. Its mission is to develop, implement and monitor innovative, cost effective and sustainable solutions for hidden hunger, in partnership with others. With Canadian support, the organization is improving the lives of 500 million people annually in more than 70 countries with its child survival, child development and women´s health programs.
Teck is a diversified resource company committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, steelmaking coal, zinc and energy. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, its shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TCK.A and TCK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TCK.
CIDA is Canada's lead agency for development assistance. CIDA's aim is to manage Canada's support and resources effectively and accountably to achieve meaningful, sustainable results. It also engages in policy development in Canada and internationally, enabling Canada's effort to realize its development objectives.
