Vitamin Angels Partners with Government of Cambodia to Advance Scale-Up of MMS and Reach One-Third of Pregnant Women in 2027

• Approximately 51% of pregnant women in Cambodia experience anemia. Maternal anemia increases the risk of severe bleeding during childbirth, a leading cause of maternal death, and is associated with adverse birth outcomes.
  
  
• United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (UNIMMAP MMS) is a high-impact intervention with the potential to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. MMS is a cost-effective way to deliver the vitamins and minerals needed to support healthy pregnancies, help prevent maternal anemia, and reduce the risk of stillbirth, preterm birth, and low birth weight.
  
  
• Vitamin Angels has partnered with the government of Cambodia to support the integration of MMS into the national healthcare platform, extending the organization's current programming by adding enough MMS to support more than 100,000 pregnant women in 2027, a powerful step in Cambodia's nationwide scale-up.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia , Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitamin Angels announced today that it is partnering with Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MOH) to support the country-wide scale-up of UNIMMAP multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) for pregnant women. The two entities will work together to strengthen the national antenatal care platform through policy development, healthcare worker training, and product access. In a major milestone moment, with generous support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vitamin Angels has committed more than 100,000 bottles of MMS, which is expected to reach nearly one-third of Cambodia's pregnant women in 2027. 

On November 4, Vitamin Angels, National Maternal and Child Health Center (NMCHC), and Cambodia's National Nutrition Program (NNP), co-hosted an event convening stakeholders from the Nutrition Technical Working Group (NTWG), representing 33 different organizations, including National Reproductive Health Program (NRHP), UNICEF, FHI360's Alive & Thrive, World Vision, World Bank/Global Finance Facility (GFF), Holt International, Reproductive and Child Health Alliance, Helen Keller Intl, and iDE.

With a shared commitment to strengthening the national antenatal care platform, and in preparation for scale-up, the NTWG came together to discuss key policy and implementation activities. The agenda included reviewing updates to national MMS guidelines and the healthcare worker training curriculum, conducting a partner mapping exercise to coordinate national action, and aligning on steps toward the inclusion of MMS in Cambodia's Essential Medicines List.

"The introduction of multiple micronutrient supplementation is an important step in strengthening maternal nutrition and improving health outcomes for women and newborns in Cambodia," said Dr. Phim Laon, Manager of the National Nutrition Program of NMCHC, Ministry of Health. "Successful implementation of MMS takes more than making nutrition products available. It requires coordinated planning, clear national guidance, trained health workers, reliable supply, and ongoing learning to improve effective delivery of maternal health interventions.

"The partnership with Vitamin Angels and the National Nutrition Technical Working Group is helping us prepare our health system for effective national implementation. We are glad to be working toward sustainable solutions that give every pregnant woman in Cambodia the opportunity for a healthier pregnancy and every child a stronger start in life."

This timely initiative comes as more than half of the pregnant women in Cambodia — approximately 185,500 of 350,000 pregnant women — experience anemia, which poses a serious risk to both maternal and newborn mortality. In addition, approximately 37,300 babies are born with low birth weight each year, representing more than one in 10 newborns in Cambodia. These figures underscore the urgent need to improve maternal nutrition and access to quality care to help protect the health of women and give children a healthier start in life.

A proven and effective solution exists. MMS contains 15 essential vitamins and minerals, including iron and folic acid, and is formulated to help meet increased nutritional needs during pregnancy. Compared with iron and folic acid supplementation alone, MMS can reduce infant mortality by up to 29% and reduce the risk of adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight (up to 19% in anemic or underweight pregnant women), preterm birth (up to 8%), and babies born small for gestational age (up to 9%).

Ana Céspedes, Vitamin Angels' President and CEO, delivered opening remarks at the NTWG meeting, highlighting the importance of collaborating with government partners and strengthening systems to expand access to proven nutrition solutions for women across Cambodia.

"Addressing maternal and child malnutrition at the magnitude the challenge demands requires combining the strongest evidence available with partnerships, systems, capabilities, financing, policy, and excellence to enable effective implementation, leading to lasting change," said Dr. Ana Céspedes, President and CEO of Vitamin Angels. "We are honored to partner with Cambodia's government to offer the technical support and high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based nutrition solutions that will result in sustainable impact for women and children."

Last week, Vitamin Angels also met with Her Excellency Professor Im Sithika, Secretary of State representing His Excellency Professor Chheang Ra, Minister of Health, alongside the key ministry leaders, including the Secretary of State for Nutrition, Director General for Technical Affairs, and Directors from the NMCHC, the Department of International Communication (DIC), the Department of Drugs and Food (DDF), and the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) at Cambodia's Ministry of Health, to confirm the organization's commitment and recognize the Minister's leadership in maternal and child health.

Vitamin Angels has been supporting the introduction and scale-up of MMS in Cambodia since 2021, including providing technical support for the country's first MMS adherence and acceptability study. Since 2024, this effort has advanced through Transforming Lives Through Nutrition, a consortium of impactful nonprofit organizations, including Vitamin Angels, Helen Keller Intl, and iDE. The work of the consortium, including the donation of 100,000 bottles of MMS, was made possible with support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Together with Cambodia's MOH, NNP, NMCHC, and other partners, the consortium has enabled innovation, strengthened capabilities, and accelerated impact.

This strong step toward Cambodia's national scale-up of MMS is a critical opportunity to improve maternal and child nutrition across the country. As collaborators advance implementation, the NNP will continue to collaborate with members of the NTWG to finalize the national MMS guidelines, update maternal nutrition training manuals, and add MMS to the National Essential Medicines List. Additionally, Vitamin Angels will partner with the MOH's Department of Drugs and Food to train stockkeepers and pharmacists on MMS supply chain management. The NNP will also partner with Vitamin Angels, UNICEF, Helen Keller Intl, and FHI360's Alive & Thrive to build health worker capacity on MMS, identify gaps, and provide supportive supervision for midwives to strengthen implementation quality in health facilities.

In 2027, Cambodia is preparing to implement MMS to pregnant women across 16 of its 24 provinces, with plans to accelerate the national scale-up in the years to come.

Read more about Vitamin Angels' work in Cambodia:

• See past publications on adherence and acceptability of MMS in Cambodia (Sauer et al. 2025, Labonté et al. 2025, Hoang et al., 2024).
• In June 2026, Vitamin Angels convened stakeholders to discuss considerations for sustainable MMS scale-up, including policy, financing, procurement, supply, and implementation.

About Vitamin Angels

Founded in 1994, Vitamin Angels is a global health nonprofit working to save lives and improve the health of women and children most at risk through proven nutrition solutions. Guided by science, Vitamin Angels works alongside governments and partners to strengthen health systems, provide technical assistance, advance advocacy, and expand sustainable access to essential nutrition interventions. Today, the organization reaches more than 74 million women and children annually across approximately 65 countries and all 50 US states. Vitamin Angels has earned the highest marks for financial transparency from Charity Navigator and Candid. To learn more, visit vitaminangels.org.

Vitamin Angels Media Contact
Jimmy Grattan
[email protected] 

SOURCE Vitamin Angels