Consortium of Universities for Global Health Webinar: Implementation Science in Nutrition

When: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 – 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Malnutrition in its many forms is a major contributor to the global burden of disease and disability and has gained prominence on global and national policy agendas. This is illustrated by several resolutions, goals and targets from the World Health Assembly, the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement being implemented in over 60 countries, the existence of nutrition targets within the Sustainable Development Goals and increased investments by donors and foundations.

Despite this momentum, only about one-third of countries are on track for achieving the global stunting target, roughly one-half are on track for the wasting and exclusive breastfeeding targets and virtually none are on track for anemia in reproductive-aged women and for overweight and obesity in adults. Implementation challenges, of many types, represent the major reason for this gap between goals and achievements. The Society for Implementation Science in Nutrition (SISN) was formed in 2016 to advance the theory and practice of implementation science and help narrow these gaps.

This webinar presents the frameworks and principles of implementation science as developed by SISN and illustrates their application by teams of government actors, researchers and implementers in two countries. The case studies focus on efforts to improve the delivery and utilization of iron and folic acid supplementation for pregnant women through working with the government system and USAID-funded programs in Kenya and Uganda, as part of the Implementation Science Initiative led by SISN and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.