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To promote the availability of good quality wheat- and maize flour enriched with at least iron and folic acid, the Food Fortification Initiative (FFI), the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF), Helen Keller International and the then AkzoNobel, now Nouryon, created the Smarter Futures partnership some 10 years ago. Now, it is a much larger partnership with a Steering group comprising of FFI, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Muehlenchemie, Buhler, Nutrition International (NI), Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel), HKI, World Food Programme (WFP), IF and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On12-14 June, IF Secretary General was in New York for the 12th session of the Conference of State Parties (COSP) to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), an annual event focused on discussing the progress on the implementation of the CRPD.

During a side event organised by Rare Diseases International at the 72nd World Health Assembly, IF Secretary General talked about the importance of data in the areas of care and prevention, in the frame of Universal Health Coverage.

IF’s response focuses on the key role of medical education in the primary prevention of neural tube defects and with regard to care for persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus (SBH).

People born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus are at risk of accelerated ageing and need to be protected against financial hardship and institutionalisation

This years' World Health Day was focused on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). We joined the European Patients' Forum (EPF) and six other patients organisations, asking together for UHC in Europe and all over the world!