APRIL 17; 2 . 1 2 -
Obasanjo lauds IITA for developing vitamin A - enriched BYOilOMAOBlNNA
'lJORMEA Nigenan D resident Olusegun Cbas.anjo has oommended the International Institute of 1l'opica! AgncuHure (lITA) for successtully leadmg effurts in developing provitamin A cassava vandH5. ~whomadethe
commendation dunng a dosed door meetmg Wl1h Dlrector General of lTD\.
Dr. Nteranya Sangmga in Abeokuta desailied the ef-
fort as ammendable. TheprovitaminAcassava varieties which are the first ever bloforb.fied crops in -""",-by IITA Wltb hmding from HarveilPlus. TheNationa1 Root Crops Reseruch lnsbtute was a local partner. Sangmga saul. the vaneties would olIer 0XlSlUller5 more nutritious food reo.. pes espeoally gnd --a fomJ
of processed cassava grated and roasted into granules. In Nigena, vitaminAdefidency afflicts about 20
percent of pregnant women and JO percent of children Wlder five.. Most of UlOSeafflided live in the rural areas where poverty
b_highe< Mimster of Agriculture and RwaI Development.
Dr. Akin Adesina said dwing the laWlch: "Eco-
nomic:ally, annual losses in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as it result of vitamin and mmeral deficiendes in Nigeria are estimated at over U5$I.5 billion.•
Apart from oIIenng more access to Vltamin A. the impn:rved vaneties will reduce thecost of producing cassava reapes such as gad by eliminating the use of palm oil which hitherto has been used by many
farmers to attain the yeI. Iowish oolour. ~added that With the development gari bemg produced from these vaneties will have a higher shell life. The bmerpre$ldeot emphasJ.sed that the ya1owroot cassava varieties would help Ul tackling VItamm A defidency and also make cassava products such as gad more nutntious.
41
c~ssava
ResPOI ding, Sanginga development of the 'Ia . was a mao jor brei kthrougb lbat would c e the nutnsaId thai
- tusofpeopleUvIood. He a noted that plans by the geriaq governtlDnal !
irwJan
ment. t.)~CBSSaVa in b"""'w.u1d . . . . """" with the! mdUSlOD of the more nuhuww: varieties, addln!.. that. these efforts teqUUl~ tpe support of all stakeh~kD.
Pfizer NEAR inaugurates cardiovascular advisory board
........ byt h e _
Nabona! Varietal Release Commil~
lbevitaminA
cassa7a varieties are named UMUCASS 36, UMUCASS 37, and UMUCASS 38; and are recogniud as IITA geootypes TMSOIl IJ68,. lMS 01/1412 , and TMS 01/
BY SOlA. OCUNDIPE
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TN a bid to furtherstrengthen its postbon as the mar
1'J11,Ie!.pecbvdy. 1be ,reJaW' rootoolour of
.l.kd leader m cardiovascular mediane, Pfizer; Nigena East AlDca Region (NEAR), has maugurated a CardJavascular Swrurul Farulty 8oard.. The board. which IS made up of eminent medical practitioners and facilitators at PreYl.OUS annual Cardiovascular Sumnuts. lbe Faculty Board ill to serve m advisory capacity on management and treatment of cardiovascular dison:Iers Within the regwn. Members would offer adw:e on relevant topicslmodules and modalib.es for future c:ardic> vascularregionalldistrictsummits. Margaret Olele, Pfizer's Associate Director PubIk:Aftaus and Communication, noted in a statement that the Cardiovascular Summit 1.1 an educational platfoan br healthc::an:! practitioners to engage in a robust discussion on latest trends in cardJova.scular disease and its man~ agemenl "It IS expected to ulbmatelyenc:DtUage the use of general gwdelines and rerommendations. eqwp pfilCtitioners With update knowledge and skills for managemenl of cardwvascular disease in the envi.ronment and also provide a tonun to highlight. discuss and 'T"H E RE were smiles recommend policies that .I all around at the auwill enhance better health _"""""¥Io _ _- ditonum of the NECA
Ihevtt.lDilllA-ndtvanetJes are plCxl ucts of over 20 years en.reeding efbrts lor Wlprove:t nUlDtional. quality usU 111_ tndItional breedingmHt _ bybridizEtiflO and seIedionol. CllSla III
seedlings fol -
"""" by donal_lion 01 UIA! $tieded dlSirable plants. Farmers who
partidpruedlntbetrialsol • .Au. left. Director General. lnler:natianal lnstilu/e oIllvpiCil/ AgricuJfurf! (In-A), Dr. N leranp SangiIJgiJ; IITA AmbiJssiJdor; former Presldenl Olusegun Obiuimjo; CoardinalOl; Cassatta Ezz/erprise DeveJOPIIJI!IJ / Project. IITA. Dr. ~yTarilJt'ali _d f7e£uUveAssisIanI (IfTA), Mrs. Toyin Db. duritJ!l d risil 10 0basiuIj0 iDAbeokuIiJ..
thevarietiisaaoss~
10ved Ibevaddi5bther high-yieIdin<f ability aod resistance to major dis· eases <1Ild pests.
More smiles for the needy as HEWS Foundation launches
em at all levels,,. she said.
Olele recalled that the maiden Cardiovascular Summit was in 2008 Ul Lagos. "In past editions, Pfizer has witnessed the growing positive llIleresl 01 the Swnmit as well as the
high sdentific consider-
of the Health, Education, 'Mlrks and Sheller. HEWS, Foundation. The smiles were apeded for a pbilalhropic organlsa-
building,Alausa area of , tkmwell known forbriogIk:~a.
Lagos, last
week.
during the occasion of -tbe official
launch!
ing smiles to the faces of the needy and indigent 10 society, by meeting
theIr c ntical
neeru_
health
Among those whose smiles were brightest were Miss Iyanuolwa Oyewole and Master Ayomjde Agbaje -..two beneficiaries of lhe30 successful,free cleft lip
and palate correction sm-
olhers that we validate
genes, procured, cour· tesy HEWS Foundation
our common humanity." SpeakUlg earlier, the
In Lltgos, Ekib and 0000
states since2010. Other benefits garnered include fi,ve micro-credit I~ offered small scale industries, two educa-
Foundation's Founderl President, Mr_ Remi Adfllil!un said HEWS was conb.ilted ,towards impfQvi~ quAlity_oUile · of N1!Jcr;BD children,
tional scholarsbips and at
young persons, adulkt.s,
least 500 free meals served from the HEWS
oommwLity and societyat
kitchen. Highlighting the foun-
tbeu families a.od the
large. Ade;e.U1 noted that the fonnal L,uoch was part of the programme thrust for 2012. Others include 60 more ddt Jip'palale sur-
ation that health care proViders have for this evenL 1be Su.nuni1 bas also been endorsed by the Medical and DeotalCouncil ofNi· geria as a continuous pr0fesSional development (CPO). 'The Swnmit is part of Pfizer '.I contribution to the advancement of medical knowledge and patient care m the NEAR region by keepWg _Ihcareprofes.sionals aware of new
dation's numerous attempts to unprovewellare of the less pnvileged in society by gtving a belping hand, Group Manging Director/CEO, UAC of Nigena PIc, Mr Larry Etlah, observed Utat in a society such as ours plagued Wlth rmsery and pain QUIte plain to see. the ability to make a difference to hwnanity
11tis 15 whvorganisa-
paediablc trauma. paedt-
trends in medione; the
tions s ucb as HEWS Foundation and similar
atric cardiac surgenes, benign CIraVroa:rilloraaal Surgcric5 and strategic meetings of volunteers, the Board and
swrurut further eemplifies
tt.!COD1D1itrnenl of PfW!r to wodd medical educa_class _ bwldmgaod
etteilence in.service to the
Nigenan health sectot.
mattered
bodies olter us a fresh
lens to hwnaruty, a ray of hope and rerrunds us that it is through service to
genes, 15 mlcro-credit loans and 15 scholar-
wI>'.
'1bere would be more publlc enJigbtenmenV awareDlss campalgns on deft llMWate conditions, as well as more health inlerventions for mdigenl pabenbi. in the form ot
MaJ\lllgl!fflmt staf1