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To see, hear, and live: 25 years of the vitamin A programme in Nepal
- Source :
- Maternal & Child Nutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Vol 18, Iss S1, Pp n/a-n/a (2022)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Nepal has a rich history of vitamin A research and a national, biannual preschool vitamin A supplementation (VAS) programme that has sustained high coverage for 25 years despite many challenges, including conflict. Key elements of programme success have included (a) evidence of a 26–30% reduction in child mortality from two, in‐country randomized trials; (b) strong political and donor support; (c) positioning local female community health volunteers as key operatives; (d) nationwide community mobilization and demand creation for the programme; and (e) gradual expansion of the programme over a period of several years, conducting and integrating delivery research, and monitoring to allow new approaches to be tested and adapted to available resources. The VAS network has served as a platform for delivering other services, including anthelmintic treatment and screening for acute malnutrition. We estimate that VAS has saved over 45,000 young lives over the past 15 years of attained national coverage. Consumption of vitamin A‐ and carotenoid‐rich foods by children and women nationally remains low, indicating that supplementation is still needed. Current challenges and opportunities to improving vitamin A status include lower VAS coverage among younger children (infants 6–11 months of age), finding ways to increase availability and access to dietary vitamin A sources, and ensuring local programme investments given the recent decentralization of the government.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Supplement Articles
Pediatrics
Decentralization
vitamin A
law.invention
chemistry.chemical_compound
0302 clinical medicine
Randomized controlled trial
law
030212 general & internal medicine
Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases
Child
child public health
Nutrition and Dietetics
Vitamin A Deficiency
childhood infections
Obstetrics and Gynecology
child nutrition
Child, Preschool
Child Mortality
Community health
Supplement Article
Female
Vitamin
RC620-627
programme evaluation
RJ1-570
International Child Health Nutrition
03 medical and health sciences
Nepal
Environmental health
Nutrition in Nepal: Three Decades of Progress for Children and Women
medicine
Humans
Government
030109 nutrition & dietetics
business.industry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Infant
Gynecology and obstetrics
medicine.disease
Diet
Child mortality
Malnutrition
Community mobilization
chemistry
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
RG1-991
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17408709 and 17408695
- Volume :
- 18
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Maternal & Child Nutrition
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9d3669f7859debe63d4567f0f63e866a