Bayer launches The Nutrient Gap Initiative to Expand Access to Vitamins and Minerals for 50 Million People Annually Worldwide by 2030

Primary Focus will be on Most Vulnerable – Pregnant Women and Children in Underserved Communities

Basel, Switzerland, January 27, 2021 -- As a part of the company’s vision of “Health for All, Hunger for None,” Bayer is launching “The Nutrient Gap Initiative” which expands access to vitamins and minerals for underserved communities to help combat malnutrition. The program’s goal is to reach 50 million people in underserved communities per year by 2030 through direct action and in partnership with critical non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with a focus on intervention, education, and advocacy. The Nutrient Gap Initiative is the first program which will impact Bayer’s Consumer Health division sustainability commitment to enable access to everyday health for 100 million underserved people, by 2030.

 

Access to the right nutrients during the first 1,000 days of life – during pregnancy and through the first two years – is critical to a mother’s health as well as the healthy growth and development of a baby. Unfortunately, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are a major public health problem in underserved communities, with women and children being particularly vulnerable. Almost 50% of young women and adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries have inadequate vitamin and mineral intake1 and at least half of children worldwide under age 5 suffer from this deficiency2.  The consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies worsen gradually over time, resulting in significant health consequences across the lifespan and ultimately exacerbates the cycle of poverty. Therefore, access to the right nutrients before and during the first 1,000 days of life is critical to a mother’s health as well as the healthy growth and development of a baby.  “As a leader and expert in supplemental nutrition, we know how important these nutrients are to help ensure health for all, particularly for vulnerable populations who need it most, like underserved women and children,” said Heiko Schipper, President of the Consumer Health Division of Bayer AG and Member of the Board of Management. “The concern of having a healthy baby is top of mind for millions of families around the world and through The Nutrient Gap Initiative, we plan on creating programs that will give babies the best start in life today and for generations to come.”  

Bayer_The Nutrient Gap Initiative

The company’s work will begin with a focus on pregnant women and babies, given they are among the most vulnerable and need even more support due to the impact of COVID-19.  Preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies early in pregnancy can help mitigate poor pregnancy outcomes, such as stunted growth and impaired neurological development, which lead to long-term health and economic consequences for individuals and societies. 

 

China, as a country with large population, has about 900 thousand new-born babies with birth defects every year, accounting for 20% of the total number of global. The development of birth defects prevention and control is unbalanced among regions. Therefore, it’s urgent to strengthen the comprehensive ability of birth defects prevention and control.

 

As a global leader in supplemental nutrition for pregnant women, Bayer has continuously cooperated with China Population Education Center, China Medical Education Association and other government authorities, professional associations, experts and partners in recent years, to launch a series of science popularization programs aimed at appealing to the public to pay attention to birth defects prevention and nutrition during the whole pregnant journey, popularizing basic knowledge and skills of maternal and child health to improve maternal health literacy. To advocate the concept that “birth-defects prevention starts from high-quality pregnancy planning”, thousands of KOLs and grassroots physicians and pharmacists are organized to support the science popularization tour, premarital examination guidance and free clinic activities, reaching millions of people of childbearing age.

 

In the future, Bayer will continue to be committed to helping parents and parents-to-be have a happy and healthy baby. Through direct action and in close partnership with all sectors of society, Bayer will expand the access to nutrition for low-tier cities, remote villages and regions with a focus on intervention, education  and advocacy, so as to further reduce the incidence rate of birth defects in China, protect the health of mother and child, and give every baby a best start.

 

1. https://sightandlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SightandLife_SpecialReport_MMS_2020.pdf 

 2. https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/micronutrient-malnutrition/micronutrients/index.html