The WHO has issued several guidance notes which recommend the use of MMS in specific contexts of emergencies, patients with tuberculosis, and integration in ante-natal care (ANC) services, in the context of research. The latter and the most recent one is the Nutritional Interventions Update: MMS during pregnancy (2020) of the WHO antenatal care recommendations for a positive pregnancy experience.
Also in 2021, a WHO Expert Committee included MMS in the WHO Model Essential Medicine List.
The World Health Organization has updated its Model List of Essential Medicines in 2021 (22nd list, 2021) and included Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) following a joint evidence-based submission by the Micronutrient Forum with the New York Academy of Sciences.
WHO antenatal care recommendations for a positive pregnancy experience – Nutritional interventions update: Multiple micronutrient supplements during pregnancy. (WHO, 2020).
This guidance note recommends the introduction of MMS in a research context. The MMS Technical Advisory Group explains what this means in the Interim Guidance provided here
Nutritional care and support for patients with tuberculosis (WHO, 2013).
This guideline provides guidance on the principles and evidence-informed recommendations on the nutritional care and support for patients with tuberculosis.
Preventing and controlling micronutrient deficiencies in populations affected by an emergency – Multiple vitamin and mineral supplements for pregnant and lactating women, and for children aged 6 to 59 months (WHO, WFP, UNICEF, 2006).
This guidance note recommends the use of MMS in an emergency context, when access to nutritious foods is interrupted, and fortified food rations cannot meet the needs of nutritionally vulnerable subgroups.
The Programme Guidance on Maternal Nutrition (UNICEF, 2021).
This guidance aims to provide UNICEF country teams and their partners with guidance to design, implement, and monitor evidence-based programmes, including MMS, to improve the nutrition of women across the life course.
Programme Guidance to Protect the Nutrition of Women and Adolescent Girls in Humanitarian Settings (UNICEF, 2024).
This guidance was created for nutrition cluster/sectors, programme staff of UNICEF and the World Food Programme, and other practitioners who are designing and/or implementing a nutrition response in humanitarian settings.MMS are recommended for all pregnant and breastfeeding women and adolescent girls in humanitarian contexts.
