The National Vitamin A Plus Campaign kicked off on Saturday with an aim to provide Vitamin A Plus capsules to over 22.2 million children aged between six and 59 months to prevent child blindness and reduce child mortality in the country.
“Giving vitamin A capsules to children will prevent blindness, ensure normal growth, reduce all types of child mortality by 24 percent and significantly reduce mortality due to measles, diarrhea and pneumonia,” Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Professor Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said at a press conference on Friday.
The Vitamin A Plus campaign will be carried out in the cyclone-hit coastal areas at a later date, he said.
According to the statement, the Vitamin A capsules will be distributed at designated centres from 8 am to 4 pm.
Dhaka North City (DNCC) has also set a target of giving Vitamin A capsules to more than 579,000 children.
DNCC Chief Health Officer Brigadier Imrul Keyes Chowdhury disclosed this at a press conference held at Nagar Bhavan in Gulshan-2 in the city on Thursday, said a press release on Friday.
As part of the campaign, 2.7 million children aged 6 to 11 months will be given blue Vitamin A Plus capsules on the day, while 19.5 million children aged 12 to 59 months will be given red capsules.
DGHS Director Khurshid appealed to the public to provide Vitamin A Plus capsules to their children and ensure that no child is left without vitamin capsules.
“The successful implementation of the campaign can reduce the infant mortality rate in the country by 24 percent,” he added.
He added that consumption of Vitamin A Plus capsules has significantly reduced the problem of blindness in the country.
After independence, more than four per cent children became blind due to vitamin A deficiency, but now only 0.01 per cent children are blind, the DGHS director added.
Khurshid said a total of 240,000 volunteers and 40,000 health workers would take part in the countrywide campaign and administer Vitamin A capsules at all health facilities and mobile health centres throughout the day.
Vitamin A deficiency is a serious threat to the health of mothers and children, health experts said, adding that the effects of vitamin A deficiency are not limited to blindness but also lead to a range of diseases and increased risk of death.
