The Ministry of Health and Population is organizing a two-day nationwide campaign to give Vitamin A to the children aged six months to five years on Wednesday and Thursday.
Officials say the campaign will be important to prevent many childhood diseases and reduce the mortality rate among children under five. Over 2.4 million children above 12 months will also be given deworming tablets.
Around 52,000 female Community Health Volunteers serving throughout the country will be mobilized for the campaign. The Health Ministry has been conducting the campaign twice every year—in April and in October—since 2003.
These programmes, officials say, had coverage rates of over 94 percent. In 2020, a lot of children may have missed out on vitamin A and deworming because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Child health experts say vitamin A campaigns are vital for the overall growth of children and for protecting them from various infectious diseases.
According to the World Health Organization, children deficient in vitamin A are prone to visual impairment (night blindness) and illnesses like measles, diarrhoea, etc.
