Zambia will kick off a food fortification program under the assistance of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to reduce iron and vitamin A deficiency faced by millions of Zambians, women and children in particular, a senior official of GAIN said here Monday.

"This project is more than a technical one. It is about saving lives, improving health and contributing to the productivity and learning abilities of all the people of Zambia," said GAIN executive director Marc Ameringen.

This is part of the program that was initiated by GAIN and the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) in 2004 to eliminate malnutrition including vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

GAIN will provide 2.4 million U.S. dollars to the Zambian government to launch the fortification of commercially produced maize meal, a project that will last for three years beginning March 1.

Under the program, more than half of all maize meal sold in Zambia will be fortified by 2009 with the cooperation of the government and the country's millers association.

Figures from the Ministry of Health showed that one in every two children under five years old in Zambia has iron deficiency anemia and is vitamin A deficient. Meanwhile, one third of women aged between 15 and 49 years have nutritional anemia while about one in every five women is vitamin A deficient.

Health minister Sylvia Masebo said the micronutrient deficiencies in the country is a "hidden hunger".

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN is a coalition of international and UN agencies, national governments and private industry that is committed to ending vitamin and mineral deficiencies through supporting food fortification.

Source: Xinhua