The two-day national campaign, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, will administer vitamin A supplements to approximately 3.2 million children ages 6 to 59 months across the United States.
The Ministry of Health and Population launches a national vitamin A supplementation campaign every year in the third week of April.
Deworming tablets will also be given to 2.9 million children between the ages of one and five, according to the Ministry of Health Services Family Welfare Division Nutrition Division, which is responsible for running the campaign.
“All necessary preparations for the campaign have been completed,” said Lila Bikram Thapa, head of the division. “We request all parents of affected children to ensure they are given vitamin A supplements and deworming tablets.”
Since 2003, approximately 52,000 female community health volunteers have been deployed across the country to participate in campaigns held in April and October each year.
According to Thapa, it is thanks to such supplement campaigns that night blindness in children, which was extremely high until 20 years ago, has almost been eliminated.
Vitamin A deficiency is responsible for nearly a quarter of global child deaths from measles, diarrhea, and malaria.
The campaign has been a success story in Nepal, as it has helped tackle vitamin A deficiency in children, which was once a major public health concern. Regular nutrition campaigns are estimated to have reduced deaths among children under five by 23%.
Child health experts say deworming tablets are critical to preventing many childhood diseases and reducing mortality rates in children under five.
The coverage rate of the vitamin A supplementation and deworming campaign was over 94 percent, which was the highest among all health campaigns conducted in the country in the past. However, in recent years, that coverage has declined to just over 80%.
In 2020, many children were unable to receive vitamin A supplements and deworming due to the pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization, vitamin A deficiency makes children more susceptible to visual impairment (night blindness) and diseases such as measles and diarrhea. This supplement increases immunity and ensures the natural growth of children.
