Abbott funds child nutrition project

Ya'an Renmin Hospital in rural Sichuan province can provide advanced clinical nutrition support for ailing children, thanks to a new program training more health care providers in China.

Zou Yongrong, director of the hospital's pediatric department, is also leader of the clinical nutrition support team at Ya'an Renmin Hospital.

She is one of the first graduates of the new training program, the Abbott Fund Institute for Nutrition Science, at Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC).

SCMC, the Abbott Fund and Project HOPE established the pediatric nutrition institute, which began as a pilot project in 2007 before officially opening in late June.

The Abbott Fund, the philanthropic arm of the US-based health care company Abbott Laboratories, contributed an initial $3 million to the institute.

Project HOPE, the project manager, is an international non-profit health organization that has been involved in health care and education projects in China since 1983.

Abbott Fund President Catherine Babington said the new institute combines the childhood nutrition expertise of Abbott and SCMC.

During the three-year pilot phase of the project, the institute trained more than 600 doctors, nurses and dieticians at 25 hospitals in 17 provinces.

The institute provided nutrition counseling to more than 1,500 children, and also developed clinical nutrition guidelines for some of the participating hospitals.

"This has helped reduce malnutrition among children admitted to SCMC by 27 percent and developed and tested clinical nutrition support guidance for nine critical care units at SCMC, including pediatric, neonatal and cardiac intensive care units," said SCMC Vice President Wang Wei.

The institute's goals are to establish SCMC as a pediatric nutrition model for other children's hospitals, project leaders said.

The institute's mission also is to disseminate clinical "best practices" and encourage research and training outreach. "Nutrition support is indispensable for children who have suffered from serious illnesses, yet very few parents are aware of this," said Cai Wei, a professor and vice president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Cai, director of the Shanghai Institute for Pediatric Research, said the program also addresses the co-existence in China of malnutrition in rural areas and obesity in urban areas.

"In cities, helping parents develop healthy living behavior and menus for their children is important to protect their children's health," Cai said.

The Abbott Fund has contributed more than $790,000 to other child and maternal health care projects in China since 2006.

"Abbott's commitment goes well beyond production and distribution of our products. Abbott is also engaged in sharing our pediatric nutrition knowledge and experience with the nation's health care professionals," said Thomas Chen, senior vice-president of Abbott's international nutrition division.

Abbott has had operations in China since 1995. Annual sales in China range from $500 million to $1 billion.

Abbott received the Shanghai Charity Foundation Appreciation Award last year for earthquake relief efforts after the company provided $1 million in funding and product donations.

The company also has trained more than 2,800 health care providers throughout China for its Steps to Health program established to strengthen rural health care services.

(China Daily 07/13/2009 page8)