Cuba and Italy cooperate on project for the prevention of anemia

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 10 (ACN) The World Food Program (WFP) in Cuba received a donation of 250,000 euros from the Italian government to support actions to prevent anemia and nutritional deterioration of vulnerable groups.

Such donation, provided by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, will be used to implement an 18-month project benefiting 47,974 people, including children under two years of age, pregnant women and adults over 65 in the eastern provinces of the country and the Havana Historian's Office Program.

Paolo Mattei, WFP representative in Cuba, pointed out that since 2013 Italy has collaborated with more than three million dollars to food security and sovereignty, as well as nutritional education in Cuban territory.

He detailed that, on this occasion, the contribution will allow the purchase of approximately three metric tons (MT) of micronutrients powder and 235 MT of super cereal to assist the total number of beneficiaries, mostly infants.

For his part, Roberto Vellano, Italian ambassador to the Caribbean island, recalled that in August this year the WFP Cuba received an Italian contribution to help feed people admitted by COVID-19 in hospitals in Havana and Matanzas.

He added that the current 2021-2024 cooperation cycle prioritizes resilient and sustainable local food systems, social protection, school feeding, nutrition, communication and education, disaster management, emergency response and gender and youth approaches.

Pedro Pablo San Jorge, deputy director of the Directorate of International Economic Organizations, representing Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment, expressed his gratitude for the generous donation in a complex context for the country due to the pandemic and the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States.

Since 2008, the WFP in Cuba has been supporting the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Iron Deficiency Anemia implemented in the country, with emphasis on food diversification and fortification, food and nutritional education, and monitoring and evaluation to promote greater access to healthy food.