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Nutrition and Pharmaceutical Sciences

University of Namibia; Windhoek, Namibia: February 17-23, 2014

To achieve the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDG's) professionals involved in nutritional research and program development need to design and create locally adapted solutions. This includes indigenous knowledge in medical sciences and public health care services, in-depth background information of plant diversities, as well as analytical expertise. To this end the University of Namibia and the University of Potsdam organized a Summer School that focused on "Nutrition and Pharmaceutical Sciencies: Innovative Approaches supporting MDG's".

 

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Background

Malnutrition is one of the most important constraints to achieve the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDG) since good health, cognitive development, and productivity cannot be attained without a balanced nutrition. An increasing number of developing countries must shoulder a double burden of malnutrition which is described by the persistence of undernutrition along with a rapid rise of overnutrition and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease in developing countries. Given current economic and social trends, observed changes in dietary patterns are likely to continue and - combined with changes in lifestyle - will exacerbate emerging problems of overnutrition and diet-related chronic diseases in developing countries.

Objectives

The interdisciplinary event aimed not only at advocating evidence based approaches, but also at assessing and  benefit sharing. The main focus points were:

  • Nutrition and Transition
  • Micronutrients in Non-Communicable Diseases
  • Analytical Approaches
  • Secondary Plant Components in Non-Communicable Diseases

Highlights and Advantages

The participants were offered incentive talks given by numerous experts approaching the problem of hunger and diet-related chronic diseases in developing countries. Additionally analytical challenges were examined and complemented by practical exercises.

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