IAEA Director General  acknowledges contributions to Nobel Peace Prize by staff members

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)  has established a Cancer and Nutrition  Nobel Peace Prize  fund.

IAEA NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CANCER AND NUTRITION FUND

Between the 70s and the 90s, a far-sighted  and highly successful project on exploring the impact of nuclear techniques got addressing diverse human nutritional problems  was initiated by Dr. Robert M. Parr.

Between 1999 and 2005, IAEA’s technical and scientific contributions for enhancing the role of nuclear techniques in nutrition at a global level were achieved. During this period, the IAEA was recognized as a leader in applying nuclear-based techniques for alleviating malnutrition, and these highlights were achieved under the leadership of Dr. G. Venkatesh Iyengar (SCN letter here).

Since 2005, the year the IAEA was recognized through the Nobel Peace Prize, capacity development initiatives to strengthen the role of nutrition in support of child health and development is in the forefront directed by Dr. Lena Davidsson.

Mr. W. Burkart, Deputy Director General, Department of Nuclear Sciences abd Applications: “IAEA programmes are not about selling a method, but empowering local communities to find real solutions using non-invasive technology.”

Mr. G. V. Iyengar, Head and senior nutrition officer for IAEA nutrition programme: “Our work represents the first well-coordinated effort to monitor body composition measurements of people living with HIV/AIDS.”

IAEA Director General’s message for the 17th International Congress of Nutrition of the International Union of the Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) August 27, 2001, Vienna.

Delivered by the DDG, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications,

Distinguished Congress Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and on my own behalf, I wish to extend a warm welcome to all participants of this International Congress of Nutrition of the International Union of Nutritional
Sciences.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA for short, belongs to the United Nations’ family and is a specialized agency  for promoting nuclear technology  for peaceful applications.

For many of you it may come as a surprise that more than 2 thirds of our Member States have no nuclear or atomic applications in energy or defense, and that  therefore, our main activity is promotion of the nuclear applications  for basic
human needs. Nuclear methods- in addition to their role in basic research are often unique tools for improving agriculture and food safety , to prevent and fight human disease, to assess and improve environmental quality, and to locate
sustainable water supply.  I am pleased to mention that the IAEA actively supports  major nutritional issues, often in collaboration with  other UN Organizations  such as the WHO, FAO and UNICEF.

Let me focus on issues supported by the IAEA that are directly relevant to the objectives of the International Congress of Nutrition. For many years now the IAEA’s activities in research and technical co-operation strongly emphasize  isotope
techniques as tools for evaluating  nutritional quality of foods. The reason being  their unique suitability to assess the  bioavailability of vitamins and minerals, and  for determining the success of food supplementation programmes.

I would now like to touch upon  the established applications of nuclear technology:

In the area of health,  nuclear technologies that impact human welfare are  phenomenal tools that work around the concepts of  prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Nuclear based and isotopic techniques have proven to be very effective techniques to address problems of better nutrition and health throughout the human life cycle. Combating malnutrition, especially micronutrient deficiencies are a
valuable preventive measure relevant to many developing  countries, but also to many populations in developed countries.

Techniques based on labeling chemical compounds by radioactive isotopes are the smartest tools used in nuclear medicine to diagnose several types of cancer, while both stable and radioactive isotopes are efficient means of tracking
certain forms of infections.

Radiation therapy for treatment of cancer needs no introduction. It may heal, or through palliative radiation, at least reduce the suffering of patients.

Presented in simple terms, nuclear technology can be employed to mitigate a range of problems that affect the entire human life span. These include:

• Be it a simple measurement of intake of breast milk by the baby  or a complex monitoring of  micronutrient malnutrition (the so called  hidden hunger) in vulnerable segments of population,
• Be it understanding the origin of obesity in children or predicting the onset of diabetes in adults,
• Be it measurement of energy metabolism in individuals or evaluating bone health in the aged, there is a viable nuclear technology tool waiting to be used.

I may mention that for the applications I have just listed, nuclear-based techniques are not merely regarded as an option, but as tools providing  definitive solutions.

Let me now focus on IAEA’s role in responding to major nutritional problems:

The IAEA is a partner in addressing nutrition and health problems in more than 50 countries in collaboration with Member States counterparts, other UN organizations and donors. Large-scale nutrition programmes are very expensive to implement and it is important to know which food supplements, and which strategies or interventions are most effective.

Taking the example of  iron deficiency which affects a majority of world’s population,  stable isotope based technique to measure iron bioavailability from foods is regarded as a kind of gold standard for iron studies in humans.  Similarly, measurement of bioavailability of Zn from foods using isotopic means has become a standard technique.

Globally, an estimated 200 million children under the age of 5 years are reported to be moderately to severely underweight suffering from  protein energy malnutrition.  The IAEA efforts in this area have included projects in Cameroon and Sri Lanka where isotopic techniques were used to identify mineral deficiencies and protein-energy malnutrition.

Vitamin A deficiency is a major pubic health problem in several developing countries. The IAEA has assisted development of isotopic tracer methods for assessing human vitamin A status and estimating bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids in  China, Ghana, India,  Israel, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand.

Osteoporosis is a serious debilitating disorder faced by the elderly populations and therefore, measuring bone mass is essential for diagnosing and managing osteoporosis and potential bone fractures.  The IAEA has undertaken studies using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Hungary, Philippines, Singapore, Russia and Turkey.

Obesity (a risk factor in the development of diabetes), is spiraling  as a global public health problem  and is relevant to both advanced and developing countries.  Isotopic techniques aimed at measuring body  composition and energy expenditure are providing data in Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, India, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand and Nigeria.

Conclusions:

Let me conclude by saying that isotopic techniques can help nutritionists to adjust their nutrition programmes so that they are more effective and sustainable.  These techniques have begun to be applied in several developing countries where they produce benefits for millions through improved nutrition, and serve as specific indicators of broader social and economic advances.

On behalf of the Director General of the IAEA I would like to record my appreciation to the  president of this congress Professor Ibrahim Elmadfa, and to the IUNS president Professor Barbara Underwood for providing the opportunity to the IAEA to associate with this important congress. The Agency is looking forward to the outcome of your meeting with great interest.

I wish you a successful congress and a pleasant stay in the beautiful city of Vienna.
Thank you.