Bangladesh's national vitamin A plus campaign for children has been suspended for 14 months for want of capsules. The programme is supposed to be run twice a year, but the last campaign was held in March last year.

Two rounds were due — in September last year and in March this year — but neither took place because of the capsule shortage. Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat said last month that more than 10 million vitamin A capsules would be received from UNICEF by 10 June, but they did not arrive.

Dr Mohammad Yunus Ali, director of the Institute of Public Health Nutrition, denied the 10 June date and also said it could not be claimed that the campaign is suspended. "Efforts are going on. But there is a slight delay in getting the capsules," he said.

He gave a fresh schedule. With the capsules expected to arrive by air from abroad by 15 June, the campaign has been provisionally set for the last week of June. "We are preparing, God willing, to do it by 27 June," Mohammad Yunus Ali said.

The programme is large. It gives vitamin A capsules to children aged six months to five years — a blue capsule for those between six and 11 months, and a red one for those from 12 months to 59 months. An average of 25.5 million children are covered every year, against a target of 26 million.

Public health specialists warn that disrupting the campaign could affect children's immunity, eyesight and nutrition.

Public health expert Dr Mushtaq Hossain told BBC Bangla: "Night blindness is gone, it has been eliminated. Giving this alongside the EPI vaccination has been raising their immunity. If it is not given now, there is a risk of night blindness, malnutrition and measles infection." Closing such a gap in nutrition ultimately comes back to the supply of vegetables and animal-source foods.

Source: BBC Bangla