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Harms caused by vitamin 'A' deficiency

ISLAMABAD: Every year, 11.3 million children under five years old die in the developing world, more than six million of them directly or indirectly from malnutrition, said the UNICEF in a report.

Millions more children are malnourished. Less strong and less healthy than they should be, they have fewer opportunities to reach their full potential in life.

The problem of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is global. It affects more than 100 million children and is responsible for as many as one out of every four child deaths in regions, countries and communities where the problem exists.

Now, there is also more and more evidence that vitamin A deficiency increases the risk of maternal death.

In recent years, new scientific studies have shown that ensuring children have enough vitamin A can increase their chances of survival by about 23 percent. That's because vitamin A is essential for the immune system to function properly. It improves children's resistance to disease, and is key to improving their survival, growth and development, the report said.

In the past, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has been seen solely as a cause of blindness, and in many countries, vitamin A activities are still limited to blindness prevention. Today, the world must take on the challenge of eliminating VAD as a public health problem by making it a principal element of survival programmes for mothers and children in high-risk areas. APP