Combating micronutrient deficiencies: problems and perspectives.

The title of this symposium, ‘Can nutrition intervention make a difference?’ raises the question of ‘make a difference to what?’, and raises the issue of how this difference can be measured and attributed to the intervention. The present paper focuses on the micronutrient interventions in which the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been providing assistance for many years. It describes the global agreement on the need for action to tackle micronutrient deficiencies and the efforts made since 1990 to improve the micronutrient status of children in countries where UNICEF has programmes. It summarizes information available from the 161 countries and territories in which UNICEF has programmes of assistance, and concludes with some perspectives on ways in which adequate micronutrient nutrition of children and women in developing countries might be achieved as the next millennium approaches.