ABSTRACT
This article aims to provide a reflection on the World Health Organization sponsored Project: "Responsibility for Public Health in the Lusophone World: Doing Justice In and Beyond the Covid Emergency". This initiative was designed to gather experiences and data regarding the preparedness and response to the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Angola, Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal and the Macao Special Administrative Region. Launched in November 2020, it combines the in-depth analysis of the most recent legislation and bibliography on the matter with data obtained through a Questionnaire, addressed to a significant number of participants (from healthcare workers to academics and non-government organisations (NGOs), of which there were 41 respondents), which aims to gather different experiences and analyse ethical difficulties, identified in the response to the Pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Brazilian national strategies for the control of anemia and vitamin A deficiency in children are based on estimates of their nationwide prevalence rates in 2006 with methods not validated for this age group and with disaggregation at the level of major geographic regions. To back local administrations in (re)directing control measures for these two disorders, the current study presents estimates of their prevalence and markers of dietary intake of sources of micronutrients and use of vitamin and mineral supplements in a probabilistic sample of children 6 to 59 months of age, users of primary healthcare in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (n = 536). Venous blood samples were drawn for analysis of hemoglobin, ferritin, and serum retinol, besides collection of data on food consumption, use of vitamin and mineral supplements, and sociodemographic characteristics. Prevalence rates for anemia, iron deficiency anemia, and vitamin A deficiency were 13.7%, 5.5%, and 13%, respectively. Nearly all the children had consumed ironrich food the day before the interview, with high prevalence of animal sources. Only 49.4% had consumed foods high in vitamin A. The prevalence rates for use of any supplement, iron supplements, and vitamin A supplements were 51%, 14.7%, and 24.4%, respectively. The findings point to the need to redirect the strategies for prevention and control of anemia and vitamin A deficiency. Future studies are necessary to examine trends in these indicators, focusing on austerity policies implemented in recent years and the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.