“Zinc Saves Kids” is an initiative of the International Zinc Association (IZA) to improve the survival, growth and development of undernourished children by funding UNICEF-supported zinc programs around the world.

IZA has committed to raise three million US$ over a three-year period from the global zinc community. The campaign will involve IZA member companies, zinc industry customer groups, suppliers and employees. The funds will be used to support zinc supplementation programs for children under the age of five who are most impacted by micronutrient deficiencies. 450,000 children under the age of five die annually due to zinc deficiency, and many who survive suffer lifelong repercussions from early childhood micronutrient deficiencies.

Zinc deficiency is a major health threat for children in low-income countries but it is one which can be readily addressed with cheap, simple and existing tools such as zinc supplements. A number of local zinc supplementation programs are already being implemented in some countries with excellent results, especially in the treatment and prevention of diarrhea. Diarrhea constitutes the second most common cause of child deaths worldwide. Two million children under the age of five die from diarrhea every year.

“Children are our greatest resource, we can’t allow that millions of them die every year, especially when zinc is part of the solution," says Don Lindsay, President and CEO of Teck Resources Limited and Chairman of the International Zinc Association. "I strongly encourage our industry to help solve the global problem of malnutrition by donating to the Zinc Saves Kids campaign.

In addition to the ‘Zinc Saves Kids’ fundraising campaign, IZA is continuing to:

• Advance research on zinc’s benefits for human health and nutrition
• Raise public awareness of zinc as a problem of global public health significance that can be addressed in a cost-effective manner with existing means
• Seize every opportunity to urge governments, international and national development partners and other groups to support zinc programs
• Advocate and leverage additional funding from donor groups in support of zinc programs designed to improve child survival
• Promote the nutritional benefits of correcting zinc deficiency in crops

1900 -1950

Researchers discover that zinc is essential for the growth and survival of plants and animals.

1960s

Dr. Ananda Prasad, an Indian biochemist who specialized in the role of zinc in human metabolism, provides clear evidence of zinc and human growth. He gives Middle Eastern adolescents suffering from dwarfism and delayed sexual maturity zinc supplements and notes that their height, weight, bone development and sexual maturation improved significantly.

2000

Zinc and Health Conference is held in Stockholm, Sweden. IZA brings together more than 100 health and nutrition scientists and representatives of governments and NGOs to discuss scientific advances and implications of zinc for public health.

2000

IZA is instrumental in establishing the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG), an international group of nutrition scientists whose primary objectives are to promote and assist efforts to reduce global zinc deficiency through interpretation of nutrition science, dissemination of information, and provision of technical assistance to national governments and international agencies. IZiNCG focuses on the identification, prevention and treatment of zinc deficiency in the most vulnerable populations of low-income countries. www.izincg.org

2004

UNICEF and WHO recommend zinc tablets in combination with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) for the effective treatment of diarrhea. Diarrheal diseases account for nearly 2 million deaths annually among children under the age of five in low-income countries.

2006

IZA launches an annual conference highlighting zinc’s importance for human health in Latin America.

2007

Zinc Crops Conference is held in Istanbul, Turkey. IZA, in cooperation with the International Fertilizer Association, brings together almost 200 scientists to address the link between crop production and human health. As a result of this conference, IZA leads a series of round table discussions in Asia and Latin America promoting the use of zinc-containing fertilizers. This will increase crop production and improve the zinc nutritional status of food crops, thus enhancing the zinc intake of people.

2008

The Copenhagen Consensus, an independent body of the world’s leading economists - including five Nobel Laureates - consider malnutrition in children as the world’s biggest problem and suggest that the provision of vitamin A and zinc supplements would be the best investment the world could make for improvement.

2010

IZA launches the 'Zinc Saves Kids' program to improve child survival, growth and development through scaling up the provision of zinc-containing supplements.