Rainbow Light – Making a Dramatic Impact on Worldwide Health Through Ongoing Donations to the Vitamin Angel Alliance
Recognizing the critical role nutritional supplements play in countering the significant health dangers posed to pregnant women and newborn babies in at-risk populations world-wide, Rainbow Light’s increasing vitamin donations are making differences that will be felt for many years to come.
Santa Cruz, CA (PRWEB) December 21, 2004 -- Recognizing the critical role
nutritional supplements play in countering the significant health dangers posed
to pregnant women and newborn babies in at-risk populations world-wide, Rainbow
Light’s increasing vitamin donations are making differences that will be felt
for many years to come. The company’s innovative contribution program is
designed to expand its reach automatically as sales of their top-selling
Complete Prenatal System™ and Prenatal One™ Multivitamins increase - a
meaningful difference with sales growth of nearly 40% in 2004!
Vitamin
and mineral deficiencies affect more than one third of the world’s people,
causing blindness, brain damage, and high rates of maternal and child deaths.
Micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy are responsible for almost 18
million mentally impaired babies and approximately 250,000 severe birth defects
every year, while more than 1,000 women die every week from complications due to
iron deficiency anemia, according to UNICEF’s Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A
Global Progress Report. In impoverished areas, mother’s milk is often the
primary nutrient source during the first few years of a child’s life. If the
mother is undernourished, her child may also lack adequate nutrient support.
Malnutrition during this crucial stage in a child’s development may lead to
antisocial and aggressive behavior throughout childhood and late adolescence,
researchers report in the November 2004 issue of the American Journal of
Psychiatry (161:2005-2013). In short, the lack of adequate prenatal nutrition
contributes to a cycle of ill health, less effective education and poor
productivity that perpetuates ongoing poverty for over two billion men, women
and children today.
As a leader in the natural supplement industry for
over 20 years, Rainbow Light understands the necessity of adequate prenatal
nutrition for optimal human health and productivity, and has been working with
the Vitamin Angel Alliance since its inception in 1994 to help stamp out
prenatal malnutrition worldwide. “The truth is that many children will never
reach their intellectual or structural potential because of nutrient
deficiencies that occurred before they were born,” explains Howard Schiffer,
founder of the Vitamin Angel Alliance. He adds, “Providing women with prenatal
multivitamin and mineral supplements before and during pregnancy, and while
nursing to create nutrient-rich mother’s milk, supports critical fetal and early
infant development. It may be the most significant step we can take to make this
world a healthier place.”
Through an innovative 10:1 prenatal
multivitamin donation program with Vitamin Angel Alliance’s Maternal and Child
Health Project, Rainbow Light has delivered nearly 4 million prenatal
multivitamin tablets to pregnant and lactating women since July 2000. Rainbow
Light is the Project’s founding donor of prenatal nutrition, and has also
supplied hundreds of thousands of children’s chewable multivitamins over the
last twelve months to underserved areas around the world.
“We recently
received an emergency request for help from the Yayasan Bumi Sehat Health and
Birthing Center in Bali,” reports Kahler. “Economic conditions in Bali have
deteriorated since a tragic bombing in October, 2002, which has led to one of
the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world.” Pregnant and post-partum
women, infants and young toddlers are among those most hurt by Bali’s current
financial difficulties. Kahler forwarded the call for help to the Vitamin Angel
Alliance, and a hand delivery of 15,500 Rainbow Light Prenatal One™
Multivitamins was immediately arranged.
Through their dynamic donation
campaign, Rainbow Light supports Vitamin Angel’s efforts to provide quality
health care services to disadvantaged and underserved women and children in the
United States and worldwide through a network of partner institutions and
organizations, including Direct Relief International. Other recipient countries
include Azerbaijan, Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ghana and Kenya.
Founded in 1981, Rainbow Light has long been recognized for its strength
and leadership in premium quality food-based supplementation, consumer
education, and contribution to innovative social programs.
The Vitamin
Angel Alliance is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to helping
people worldwide without regard to religious belief, ethnicity, nationality,
political affiliation or ability to pay. Established in 1994 as a program of
Direct Relief International, a medical assistance organization, Vitamin Angel
was created to fight malnutrition and childhood blindness around the
world.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb189923.htm