Micronutrient deficiencies are a critical public health problem in West Africa

Background and Objectives: Micronutrient deficiencies negatively impact morbidity, mortality and child growth and development, thereby contributing to the vicious circle of poor nutrition and poor health and they restrain the development of societies. Recently, an international group of experts (Micronutrient Data Generation Initiative) has called for more data on the global extent of micronutrient deficiencies, to be able to inform policymakers on actions to be taken to improve health. Within the framework of the European Union Funded (2FAS) INSIDER project, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in West-Africa. Methods: We conducted a literature review of scientific papers published since 2009 on the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in West Africa (national or sub-national) as well as collected information from (sub-)national representative surveys (DHS, MICS, and micronutrient, iodine and SMART surveys) in order to map micronutrient deficiency prevalence. The analysis focused on children under 5 years of age (CU5) and women of reproductive age (WRA, 15-49 years of age). Prevalence data were used to classify countries according to their public health significance. Results: Analysis showed that important data gaps existed on current micronutrient status of CU5 and WRA and on contributing factors to anemia and micronutrient deficiencies in West Africa. Only four countries (Sierra Leone, Ghana, Gambia and Côte d'Ivoire) have recent national data with only few micronutrients investigated in addition to anemia (essentially iron, folic acid and Vitamin A). Micronutrient deficiency and etiology differed widely between countries, but prevalence is high. Non-national data confirms these findings with deficiencies of iron, vitamin A and zinc being major public health problems in CU5 in most countries while in WRA, deficiencies of iron, zinc and folate are most prevalent. Conclusions: Most of West African countries should implement surveys on micronutrient status and etiology of deficiency to obtain reliable national representative data in order to inform policy makers and plan relevant actions. In addition, national micronutrient surveys have to be regularly conducted, to monitor micronutrient deficiency changes and to assess the impact of interventions addressing malnutrition and health.