The countrywide vitamin A plus campaign began on Monday with a target to provide the capsule to 2.20 crore children to prevent child mortality rate due to malnutrition and night blindness disease.  

Following health rules, one blue colour capsule is being fed up to each of the children aged six months to 11 months, while children aged between 12 to 59 months are being fed red colour capsule each during the campaign.

The campaign will be run at all EPI centres and permanent healthcare centres all over the country including the capital Dhaka.

According to the health policy, a vitamin A plus capsule is given twice a year as supplementary food to meet the deficiency of the vitamin.

Taking the vitamin A plus capsule can prevent blindness, reduce child mortality by up to 24 per cent, and also reduce the risk of death from diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul