It has called on governments to create the right legal and financial conditions to allow the food sector to play a bigger role in defeating vitamin and mineral deficiency.
In 2002, the United Nations set three specific goals in its campaign to reduce vitamin and mineral deficiencies in developing countries : the sustained elimination of iodine deficiency by 2005, the elimination of vitamin A deficiency by 2010, and a reduction, of at least 30 per cent, in the global prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia by 2010.
In sub-Saharan countries for example, vitamin and mineral deficiencies have been estimated to cost more than $2.3 billion every year in lost productivity, mainly through birth defects, anaemia, blindness and mental disabilities.
A new report, jointly authored by United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), says that some 25 nations in subSaharan Africa now reach 70 per cent or more of their children with one vitamin A capsule every year, and 11 have recently achieved much higher rates of iodized salt coverage.
But despite the achievements, "few nations have moved to implement the full range of solutions on a systematic, nation-wide scale".
"The best hope of sustained progress against vitamin and mineral deficiency…resides in the idea of national and regional alliances to press for, plan, implement and monitor specific solutions, as well as facilitate trade in fortified foods," says the report.
Such alliances need to embrace not only government departments but also food companies, who are best equipped to develop, market, and distribute fortified food products for daily consumption by a significant proportion of the population, adds the report.
And this will require "public-private partnerships and government initiatives to createthe legal and financial conditions and incentives that will allow the private sector to play its central role indefeating vitamin and mineral deficiency".
Cost and technical issues still present concerns for the industry. Flour fortification means buying nutrients, new equipment, further testing and quality control, and marketing spend. With little government support, both the private sector and consumers must bear some of these additional costs.
But better dissemination of technical expertise across borders and increased knowledge about fortification could help to reduce some of these costs and make the process more efficient.
And major campaigns launched by charities such as Unicef and the WHO have significantly raised the visibility of the need for such policies among governments.
Speaking at this year's World Economic Forum, current chair of GAIN Jay Naidoo, also chairman of the board of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, said that if wheat flour was fortified in the 75 most needy countries with iron and folic acid, iron deficiency could be reduced by 10 per cent, and birth defects could be lowered by a third.
Such fortification would cost a total of about $85 million, or about 4 cents per person, he said.
"As a result, we estimate these countries would gain $275 million in increased productivity and $200 million from the enhanced earning potential," Naidoo claimed. "There are many other examples to emphasize that public-private partnerships to invest in food fortification are investments not only in health, but also in national economies."
Also, a recent report from the Copenhagen Consensus, a panel of eight of the world's most distinguished economists, included fortification programmes as one of its top priorities for facing global challenges.