Zinc and Health Partnership

The campaign materials and strategies for promotion of zinc include:

• the website
• a video
• a printable factsheet (PDF format
• a "Did you know?" information section on zinc and human health
• creation of "Zinc Saves Kids in 2009, an initiative of the International Zinc Association (IZA), to improve the survival, growth and development of undernourished children with micronutrient deficiencies by funding [the United Nations Children's Fund] UNICEF’s zinc supplementation programs in Nepal and Peru." This initiative included fundraising and global advocacy efforts with governments, development organisations, and other donors through social media campaigns, advertising, and promotional materials.
• founding of the Zinc Alliance for Child Health (ZACH), "a public-private-civil society alliance created to develop and sustain zinc treatment programs that will help save children’s lives. The first partnership under ZACH is a CAD$20 million commitment by Teck, the Micronutrient Initiative and the Government of Canada, aimed at scaling up therapeutic zinc and oral rehydration salts (ORS) as a diarrhea treatment in developing countries." This includes price reductions in some locations of co-packaged doses of zinc and oral rehydration salts (ORS) "as a diarrhea treatment in developing countries."
• a Teck and BASF partnership for production of zinc-fortified staple foods and development of a zinc test kit, "iCheck", to determine the zinc levels in staple foods and premixes, allowing "local producers to prove the nutritional content of their food, increasing program sustainability and reliability."
• development of educational tools and of employee-driven initiatives, including education sessions, a Zinc & Health quarterly newsletter, and "weekly zinc factoids sent to employees." Initiatives include:
• 2013 - Send One, Save One, an e-postcard campaign raising awareness about zinc deficiency and fundraising for UNICEF, matching each e-postcards with donation of the cost of a zinc treatment.
• 2012 - One Tweet, One Life campaign using social media to raise awareness about zinc deficiency by retweet of Teck's "We Day message" on Twitter, matched with donations to Zinc Saves Kids.
• 2011 - Battery Recycling Initiative: "In advance of We Day 2011, students were encouraged to collect used household batteries and bring them to We Day to keep them out of landfills and allow the zinc to be recycled and reused, ...[providing] zinc supplementation to 526,153 children for one year." This ongoing initiative includes a campaign poster, a FAQ sheet, and place to report recycling on the website, as well as a counter for participation.

Children, Health

The battery recycling project has resulted in over 110,554 batteries recycled, translating to doses of zinc for children. Zinc is one of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities (UNCoLSC) 13 priority health interventions that can prevent and treat many of the leading causes of death in women, infants, and children.