National Dairy Development Board initiates new program to address nutrition among children

With an aim to address India’s myriad health concerns, the 2nd edition of the India Health & Wellness Summit & Awards 2015 was held in New Delhi. The event was presented by Mother Dairy and is an initiative by Blue Pen Media and HealthyDunia.com, the fastest growing health and wellness information portal.

During the daylong event, T Nandakumar, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has disclosed a major initiative of providing ‘A Glass of Milk for Every Child’ to address nutrition among children across India, by using its vast network of cooperatives.

“Having set up a large milk infrastructure in the country, we decided to set out on a new initiative that will aim to address nutritional issues among children. Through the NDDB Foundation for Nutrition, we will create a connecting network involving milk cooperatives and school children, to ensure the latter get a glass of milk every day," said Nandakumar.

Elaborating on the same, Aparajita Ramakrishnan, Deputy Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (India) said that of the 1.3 million deaths of children before the age of 5 in India, half can be attributed to some form of nutritional deficiency.

Nevertheless, according to the UN estimates that 2.1 million Indian children die before reaching the age of 5 every year – four every minute - mostly from preventable illnesses such as diarrhoea, typhoid, malaria, measles and pneumonia. Every day, 1,000 Indian children die because of diarrhoea alone, quotes official site of Mother & Child Nutrition.

Significantly, the ‘Gift Milk’ program will provide a transparent electronic platform to connect individuals and corporate who want to participate as donors in the initiative. The action plan is expected to roll out in the next few months and will give preference to schools in poorer areas. The budget for the noble initiative is undisclosed.

The 2nd IHW Summit & Awards 2015 has been supported by Mother Dairy, Gaudium IVF, KV Developers, EBIX Adam India, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Paras Healthcare, Global Health Advocates India, NATHEALTH, Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI), JCKRC Spa Destination Pvt. Ltd., Impact Investors Council, World Simulation Society (WSS) & Aequitas Consulting. Outdoor Media Partner is Prabhatam Group while the Legal Partner is Trust Legal.

Image curtesy: Home: Reuters; Body image: IHW Summit- T Nandakumar, Chairman, NDDB receiving momento from a guest.