Overcoming the Challenges of Thiamine Deficiency Disorders

Thiamine deficiency remains an urgent public health problem in parts of the world, including South Asia. This session will review the experiences of the local public health and medical professionals to diagnose and prevent thiamine deficiency. We will also cover some important on going research that will help us better characterize the disease in infants, and create more effective interventions for prevention.

Presentations:

• Introduction to thiamine deficiency
  Kenneth H. Brown, MD – UC Davis
• Experiences from Prevention and Control of Infantile Beriberi Program in Myanmar
  Lwin Mar Hlaing, PhD – National Nutrition Centre, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health and Sports
• Prospective cohort study to develop a case definition of thiamine responsive disorder (preliminary results)
  Sonja Y. Hess, PhD – UC Davis
• Supplementation and fortification efforts for preventing TDDs in Cambodia
  Kyly C. Whitfield – Mount Saint Vincent University