Vitamin Angels And The Cambodia Maternal And Child Health Center Convened Stakeholders For A Dissemination Workshop To Advance Planning For National Scale-Up Of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS)

PRESS RELEASE

Vitamin Angels And The Cambodia Maternal And Child Health Center Convened Stakeholders For A Dissemination Workshop To Advance Planning For National Scale-Up Of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS)

The workshop shared findings from a supply context assessment and budget impact analysis to inform pathways toward national scale-up of MMS.

Last week Vitamin Angels and the Cambodia National Maternal and Child Health Center (NMCHC) convened more than 50 representatives from the National MMS Steering Committee, government, academia, local implementing organizations, and development partners for a workshop to review new evidence and discuss priorities for the national scale-up of MMS for pregnant women in Cambodia. The workshop shared findings from Vitamin Angels’ MMS Supply Context Assessment (SCA), including a Manufacturer and Supplier Assessment, and Budget Impact Analysis (BIA), studies designed to inform Cambodia’s consideration of a future transition from Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation (IFAS) to MMS within the national health system.

Anemia is considered a public health challenge in Cambodia, with an estimated 41% prevalence of anemia among pregnant women. Stunting also remains a public health concern, affecting 22% of children under five, with rates varying considerably across provinces. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends MMS, which contains 15 essential vitamins and minerals, including iron and folic acid in settings where nutritional deficiencies among pregnant women are prevalent. Compared to IFAS alone, MMS has been proven to reduce the risk of maternal anemia and adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth, and babies born small for gestational age.

The workshop provided stakeholders with an opportunity to discuss the country’s readiness across policy, regulatory systems, supply chain capacity, and budgetary implications to inform a potential transition from IFAS to MMS in Cambodia.

Workshop participants included representatives from the National Maternal and Child Health Center (NMCHC), National Nutrition Program (NNP), National Center for Health Promotion (NCHP), Department of Health Services, Department of Drugs and Food (DDF), Central Medical Store (CMS), Department of Planning Health Information (DPHI), Procurement Unit (PU), Preventive Medicine Department (PMD), National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), University of Health Sciences (UHS), and development partners including Helen Keller Intl, iDE, UNICEF, CHAI, World Vision, GFF/World Bank, DFAT, and Alive & Thrive.

“This workshop represents an important milestone in Cambodia’s efforts to evaluate the evidence, costs, and implementation considerations associated with MMS scale-up,” said Dr. Lucy Kanya, Vitamin Angels Transforming Lives Through Nutrition Lead. “By bringing together government leaders, technical experts, and development partners, Cambodia is building the foundation needed to deliver evidence-based nutrition interventions at scale.”

Workshop participants reviewed findings on transition budgetary analyses, scale-up scenarios, procurement and supply chain considerations, and opportunities for future local manufacturing. Key findings included:

Budgetary analysis: The Budget Impact Analysis found that a phased transition from IFAS to UNIMMAP MMS is financially feasible. A phased rollout strategy was presented with multiple budget scenarios. The model created to calculate the budget impact, included cost categories such as policy adoption, supply chain and procurement, training and service delivery integration, social and behaviour change communication, and monitoring and evaluation. The model is adaptable to different implementation scenarios.
Procurement, supply chain, and local manufacturing opportunities: The assessment found that Cambodia is well positioned to pursue a phased approach to MMS scale-up, leveraging imported and donated supply in the near term while advancing longer-term strategies for sustainable procurement and potential local production. Although UNIMMAP MMS is not currently manufactured in Cambodia, the country’s emerging pharmaceutical sector offers promising opportunities to develop domestic production capacity, provided investments are made in quality systems, regulatory frameworks, and there is sufficient market demand to ensure competitiveness.

“The findings from these assessments provide important evidence to support Cambodia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen maternal nutrition,” said Dr. Kim Rattana, Director of National Maternal and Child Health Center (NMCHC), Cambodia Ministry of Health. “As we plan the roadmap for MMS scale-up, understanding the policy, budget scenarios, procurement options, and implementation strategies will be critical to ensure sustainable and equitable access for pregnant women across the country.”

“The assessments and pilot implementation efforts have provided valuable insights into how MMS can be integrated into existing maternal health services in Cambodia,” said Samphy Cheav, Vitamin Angels Technical Specialist, Cambodia. “Through close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and local partners, we are generating local evidence that can help inform future decision-making and support sustainable implementation at scale.”

In addition to reviewing the findings, stakeholders identified several priority areas for building the requisite enabling environment including strengthening policy and regulatory readiness and exploring sustainable financing and procurement options for short and long term planning, and scaling up best practices from the ongoing MMS demonstration pilot in Takeo province.

Current MMS activities in Cambodia, including the assessments, pilot implementation efforts, and dissemination workshop, are implemented through the Transforming Lives Through Nutrition initiative with funding from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The workshop builds on a broader collaboration between Vitamin Angels and the NMCHC, formalized in April 2026, to strengthen maternal nutrition services in Cambodia. Through this partnership, Vitamin Angels has supported training for national and subnational health staff on MMS implementation, provided MMS for pilot implementation areas, partnered with government counterparts on monitoring and supervision activities, and generated local evidence to inform future planning and scale-up efforts.