President Joe Biden signed the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act into law Oct. 19, which directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the prevention and treatment of global malnutrition.
This action was commented on by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y.; Ranking Member Michael McCaul, R-Texas; and Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Roger Wicker, R-Md., in a House Foreign Affairs Committee news release.
“We are proud to see that the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act has been signed into law. This new law will advance life-saving and low-cost nutrition programs to urgently address alarming rates of malnutrition globally,” the news release said.
Reports from the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises illuminates hunger around the world and forecasts a dire hunger crisis in the future, emphasizing the need to prioritize effective nutritional programs to address said conditions.
“Today, more than 345 million people are facing acute food insecurity around the world and a famine declaration is looming in the Horn of Africa. Prioritizing effective nutrition activities and making them a core part of our existing humanitarian and development programs will strengthen the health, development, and productivity of the next generation of children and families around the world,” the release said.
Acute hunger was experienced by 193 million people in 2021, a 40 million increase from 2020, according to the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises. Another 236 million people were on the cusp of acute hunger. The report predicts worsening conditions in 2022, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, drought in the Horn of Africa and conflict in West Africa.
The Global Report predicts 329,000 people in Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen will be in catastrophe, 35.5 million people in 33 countries will be in emergency, 120 million people in 38 countries will be in crisis and 233.4 million people in 38 countries will be in stressed conditions.
The Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act is designed to direct the USAID in preventing and treating global malnutrition and also to further improve the coordination of existing programs that seek to address food insecurity. The new law dictates an “increase in coverage, particularly in priority countries, of nutrition intervention,” with emphasis on distributing prenatal nutrition supplements, breastfeeding support, vitamin A supplements and specialized nutritious food products for the treatment of acute malnutrition, according to the text of the House Bill 4693.
The new law also calls on the USAID to select “priority countries” through certain criteria. In particular, it emphasizes countries that face a prevalence of severe malnutrition among children under the age of 5 and pregnant and lactating women, the bill text said. USAID efforts are set to be carried out in coordination with existing policies and laws such as the Global Food Security Act of 2016, the Sen. Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2014, the Global Child Thrive Act of 2020 and the Global Fragility Act of 2019.
