For more than a decade, Sight and Life has been at the forefront of shaping the global Multiple Micronutrient Supplement (MMS) movement. Long before MMS entered the public health mainstream, SAL was already building evidence for its impact – facilitating the local production of 16 million MMS tablets in Bangladesh as early as 2008 for the JiVitA-3 study, which reached 45,000 pregnant women. That early work contributed to a global shift: in 2021, MMS was added to the WHO Essential Medicines List, and by 2025, the innovation was publicly endorsed by Bill Gates as one of the most promising solutions for maternal and newborn health. Today, SAL’s MMS initiatives have already improved the nutrition trajectory of more than 2 million women and babies, and the organization has helped establish two MMS manufacturing hubs in Africa and Asia, adding over 1 billion tablets to the world’s annual supply capacity.

SAL’s work is rooted in locally driven, market-ready solutions that strengthen country systems while expanding access for pregnant women.

In Bangladesh, SAL partnered with Social Marketing Company to design and pilot the first market-based MMS distribution model, supporting everything from product development and manufacturing inputs to consumer insights, pricing, demand generation, and ongoing analytics. Since the 2021 launch, more than 100 million tablets have been purchased – 70% by rural women – reaching 1 million+ pregnant women. The program has become a national success story, demonstrating that when MMS is affordable, appealing, and available, women adopt it rapidly.

In the Philippines, SAL has played an equally catalytic role since 2021: enabling the registration of a regional MMS manufacturer (the first and only in the country), which allowed local governments to procure 7 million tablets in 2025 alone. To support national rollout, SAL is now conducting a supply-readiness assessment and strengthening private-sector distribution to complement public procurement.

In Indonesia and Nigeria – two of the earliest adopters of MMS in their regions – SAL’s strategy centers on building durable manufacturing capacity and equipping health providers with the knowledge to confidently prescribe MMS. In Indonesia, SAL supported the development of one of the country’s first locally produced MMS products and partnered with a digital medical training platform to train 100,000 health professionals on MMS and calcium supplementation. Similarly in Nigeria, SAL is supporting a local MMS manufacturer while working with the Nigerian Medical Association to train over 40,000 doctors.

In each country, the goal is long-term strengthening of systems, ensuring that once governments commit to MMS, supply chains, health workers, and local manufacturing can sustain the scale-up.

Looking ahead, SAL is deepening its commitment to evidence generation and supporting governments as they transition from pilots to nationwide adoption.

In Rwanda, SAL’s independent evaluation of 5,000 pregnant women across 50 health centers is shaping the country’s MMS scale-up roadmap. In Malawi, SAL is conducting groundbreaking research on how MMS – combined with ibuprofen – affects iron status, menstrual blood loss, school attendance, and the overall wellbeing of adolescent girls.

Across all geographies, the next phase of work is focused on accelerating responsible, country-led scale by advancing digital innovations for ANC tracking, supporting procurement strategies, building manufacturing capacity, and expanding partnerships that ensure MMS becomes standard of care. With its unmatched technical expertise and proven country models, SAL is uniquely positioned to help nations deliver MMS to every woman who needs it.