Government leaders are often faced with tough choices in funding public health programs, including nutrition. Decision-makers need to know how to invest scarce resources to have the greatest impact on malnutrition. Two tools that can help governments optimize resources to reach nutrition targets are Optima Nutrition and MINIMOD. Optima Nutrition determines the combination of nutrition investments that result in the best feasible nutrition outcomes by region. It helps determine how much funding is required to achieve nutrition targets and identifies trends in undernutrition under different funding scenarios. MINIMOD focuses on micronutrient deficiencies, guiding decision-makers on how to select the best mix of micronutrient interventions, by region, to reach the greatest number of people at risk of deficiency and at the lowest cost. The tool addresses micronutrients like vitamin A, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin B12, folate, and iodine, especially in children 6-59 months and women of reproductive age.
This webinar discussed these tools and how they can work together to help government decision-makers select the best set of interventions in each of their program areas to decrease undernutrition.
Webinar Recording
Webinar Resources
- View webinar transcript (PDF, 349 KB)
- Optima Nutrition (PDF, 837 KB)
- MINIMOD (PDF, 565 KB)
- Better Together: Optima + MINIMOD (PDF, 42 KB)
Speakers
Dr. Nick Scott, an econometrician with the Burnet Institute in Melbourne Australia
Dr. Steve Vosti, Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis