An opportune alliance that put an end to rickets and saved thousands of children in Quebec! Français
50th anniversary of the collaboration between Mr. H. Arnold Steinberg and Dr. Charles Scriver
MONTREAL, Nov. 14, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation is proud to highlight the 50th anniversary of the impressive collaboration between Mr. H. Arnold Steinberg and Dr. Charles Scriver, which had a major impact on generations of children in Quebec. The unprecedented alliance between the visionary entrepreneur and the respected geneticist led to the addition of vitamin D to milk in Quebec.
Half a century ago, the men joined together to tackle a public-health issue related to nutrition. Following extensive research, Dr. Scriver discovered that babies suffering from rickets, a disease that affects bone growth and is caused by a vitamin D deficiency, were typically from poor families. The solution? Adding vitamin D to bottled milk everywhere in Quebec.
Facing some resistance from milk marketers in Montreal, Dr. Scriver called upon grocery-store giant, Mr. Steinberg. "No vitamin D in the milk, no contract," the famous grocer proclaimed, winning the battle against certain Montreal executives.
Dr. Nicolas Steinmetz*, who had the opportunity to cross paths with Mr. Steinberg, remembers: "He was an anomaly, in a wonderful way, a rare businessman who understood the importance of the health of children in building a healthy society."
Mr. Steinberg's actions helped combat the high rate of rickets among the province's poorest children, which went from one case in 200 to one in 20,000 overnight. A victory for public health!
On November 18, the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation will host a cocktail party to recognize the pivotal role this partnership played in improving the health of Quebec children. The event will bring together friends and members of the Steinberg family, including the late Mr. Steinberg's two daughters, and more than ten researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, several of whom worked alongside Dr. Scriver, described by many as the man who "defined the history of genetics at the Children's and across Canada."
* Dr. Nicolas Steinmetz will be available for interviews at the cocktail party, which will be held on November 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Atrium, Bloc E, 1001 boul. Décarie, Montréal, QC, H4A 3J1.
ABOUT THE MONTREAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
The mission of the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation is to inspire and mobilize the community to support innovation in research, teaching and care at the Montreal Children's Hospital, the pediatric teaching hospital for McGill University's Faculty of Medicine, and pediatric research at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Since its inception in 1973, the Foundation has raised over $474,5 million, which has transformed the lives of sick children through innovative research and teaching projects, and cutting-edge care. For more information, please visit childrenfoundation.com.
ABOUT THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE MCGILL UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTRE
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and healthcare research centre. The Institute, which is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University, is the research arm of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) – an academic health centre located in Montreal, Canada, that has a mandate to focus on complex care within its community. The RI-MUHC supports over 450 researchers and close to 1,200 research trainees devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental, clinical and health outcomes research at the Glen and the Montreal General Hospital sites of the MUHC. Its research facilities offer a dynamic multidisciplinary environment that fosters collaboration and leverages discovery aimed at improving the health of individual patients across their lifespan. The RI-MUHC is supported in part by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS). rimuhc.ca
SOURCE The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation
Sylvie Desjardins, Director of Communications, The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation, 514 934-4846, ext. 29276
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