GOBI is a strategy consisting of (and an acronym for G=Growth monitoring, O=Oral rehydration therapy, B=Breast feeding, I=Immunization) four low-cost, high impact, knowledge mediated measures introduced as key to halving child mortality by James P. Grant at UNICEF in 1983. The measures are:
- Growth monitoring: the monitoring of how much infants grow within a period, with the goal to understand needs for better early nutrition.[5]
- Oral rehydration therapy: to combat dehydration associated with diarrhea.
- Breastfeeding
- Immunization
Three additional measures were introduced to the strategy later (though food supplementation had been used by UNICEF since its inception in 1946), leading to the acronym GOBI-FFF.
- Family planning (birth spacing)
- Female education
- Food supplementation: for example, iron and folic acid fortification/supplementation to prevent deficiencies in pregnant women.
These strategies focus on severe population health problems in certain developing countries, where a few diseases are responsible for high rates of infant and child mortality. Health care planning is used to see which diseases require most attention and, subsequently, which intervention can be most effectively applied as part of primary care in a least-cost method. The targets and effects of selective PHC are specific and measurable. The approach aims to prevent most health and nutrition problems before they begin: