In presences of Bill Gates FSSAI launched a Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC) to provide technical support advocacy and expertise in all aspects of food fortification during a special meeting, which was attended by Bill Gates.
“I am encouraged by the government’s new initiatives to advance India’s nutrition goals. In particular, I congratulate FSSAI on the launch of the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulation (2016) and continued improvement on salt iodisation,” Bill Gates was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the FSSAI.
In the meeting, the founder of Microsoft and trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates, extended his support to Indian government’s new initiatives to curb the problem of malnutrition in the country.
Bill Gates also paid a visit to Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, J P Nadda and discussed various issues relating to the health sector in India. During the meeting, Gates expressed appreciation for the initiatives taken by the Ministry towards strengthening the health systems, particularly in expanding the coverage of immunisation through Mission Indradhanush, increasing the basket of vaccines and the choices for women in reproductive healthcare.
The Health Minister appreciated the efforts of Gates Foundation in complementing the efforts of the Government in the health sector, which has enhanced the capacity of the health workers for more effective implementation of the projects. “We acknowledge that the cooperation is mutually beneficial, desirable and necessary for achieving our vision of a Healthy India and look forward to working with the Gates Foundation and leveraging their expertise to support our efforts in strengthening our health systems,” Nadda said.
The FSSAI meeting was also attended by secretaries of eight different ministries, including Health, Woman and Child Development and Human Resources and Development, along with members of Tata Trust at the headquarters of Food, Safety and Standards of Authority of India (FSSAI).
An online portal of FCTC was also launched during the meeting, which would function as a knowledge dissemination and interaction platform across stakeholders. An alarming 70% of Indian population consumes less that 50 per cent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of micronutrients.
Over a quarter of the world’s vitamin A deficient pre-school children are in India. About 70 per cent of the schoolchildren and over 50 per cent of women suffer from anaemia caused by iron deficiency in the country.
According to FSSAI, the standards and logo for fortified foods that were released in October already has become a rallying point for large-scale food fortification. Several states are already in the advanced stages of adopting fortified foods in government programmes.