Sight and Life is a
think tank that focuses on eliminating
malnutrition in children and women of childbearing age.
History
Sight and Life was founded in 1986 by the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
global healthcare company,
F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd, and focused on providing assistance to address the problem of
Vitamin A deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) or hypovitaminosis A is a lack of vitamin A in blood and tissues. It is common in poorer countries, especially among children and women of reproductive age, but is rarely seen in more developed countries. Nyctalopia (ni ...
in developing countries. This assistance was provided mostly in the form of free
Vitamin A capsules and
Vitamin A supplementation projects. The organisation also provided grants and scholarships for healthcare professionals in developing countries to attend international conferences, workshops, and courses or academic programs. Other types of support included grants for small-scale projects and programmatic research. Sight and Life also began publishing the ''Sight and Life Newsletter'', which disseminated news from the projects and research it supported as well as general news and specific features related to
Vitamin A.
When
DSM
DSM or dsm may refer to:
Science and technology
* Deep space maneuver
* Design structure matrix or dependency structure matrix, a representation of a system or project
* Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
** DSM-5, the fifth e ...
acquired Roche's Fine Chemicals division, Roche Vitamins, in 2003, the company continued the ''Sight and Life Initiative and Newsletter'' (which it repackaged as the ''Sight and Life Magazine''), and broadened the Initiative's focus to address a wider range of micronutrient deficiencies, not just vitamin A deficiency. This broader focus is reflected in Sight and Life's current programming and grantmaking policies as well as the magazine's editorial content. Sight and Life is also active in promoting greater awareness of the problems of nutritional anemia (or
iron deficiency anemia), and the "double burden of malnutrition", an emergent phenomenon in settings of nutritional transition in which both malnutrition and over-nutrition (e.g. obesity), and the diseases associated with them, are found in the same population.
Cooperation partners
Since its founding, Sight and Life has supported over 3,200 research and project activities in over 80 countries between Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. These activities are conducted in collaboration with universities, UN agencies, and non-government and government organizations. Organizational partners include
Johns Hopkins University,
ETH Zürich (the Swiss Federal Research Institute), the
North-West University (South Africa), the United Nations
World Food Programme (WFP),
World Health Organization (WHO), the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Micronutrient Forum, the
Micronutrient Initiative,
Groupe de Recherches et d'Echanges Technologiques
Groupe de Recherches et d'Echanges Technologiques (GRET) (French, ''Group For Research and Technology Exchanges'') is a non-governmental association supporting international cooperation, professional solidarity and poverty reduction in the countrie ...
(GRET), the
Swiss Red Cross
The Swiss Red Cross (German: ', French: ', Italian: ', Romansh: '), or SRC, is the national Red Cross society for Switzerland.
The SRC was founded in 1866 in Bern, Switzerland. In accordance with the Geneva Red Cross Agreement and its r ...
, and the
Christian Blind Mission.
A current partnership with WFP focuses on improving and increasing nutritious food for people in poor countries and during humanitarian crises, toward which DSM and Sight and Life have provided WFP with technical expertise, nutritional products and financial assistance.
External links
Official website{{Authority control
Non-profit organisations based in Switzerland
Medical research organizations