The International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control (IMMPaCt) Program works with global partners to contribute CDC skills and resources to eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies (micronutrient malnutrition) among vulnerable populations throughout the world. Established by the CDC in 2000, IMMPaCt focuses primarily on helping eliminate deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, iodine, and folic acid.

Deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron, iodine, vitamin A, folic acid and zinc affect nearly one-third of the world's population, and the consequences can be devastating.¹

• Iron deficiency is one of the top 10 causes of global disease and robs more than 2 billion children of their intellectual development, lowers their IQ, and contributes to about 25 percent of maternal deaths in developing countries^2,3
• Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation and causes brain damage in nearly 18 million newborns each year⁴
• Vitamin A deficiency produces blindness in about 500,000 children and claims the lives of almost 670,000 children aged 5 years and younger^5,6
• Folic acid deficiency causes severe birth defects in approximately 150,000 newborns each year.⁴

By helping countries develop and operate appropriate assessment, monitoring and evaluation, systems, IMMPaCt and its global partners work to enable national governments, food industries and civic organizations to successfully implement interventions such as mass food fortification, supplementation and home fortification in order to eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  For more information, see About the Program.

References

1. Investing in the future: A united call to action on vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Global Report 2009 p. 1
2. Lancet Series on child development: Susan P Walker, Theodore D. Wachs, Julie Meeks Gardner, Betsy Lozoff, Gali A Wasserman, Ernesto Pollitt, Julie A Carter, and the International Child Development Steering Group.  (2007)
3. UNICEF, The State of the World's Children, 2009, pp. 5 and 51.
4. Investing in the future: A united call to action on vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Global Report 2009 p. 7
5. Investing in the future: A united call to action on vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Global Report 2009 p. iii
6. Black RE et al, Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences.  The Lancet, 2008, 371 (9008), p. 16.