Vitamin a Supplementation in Preschool Children. Coverage and Factors Determining Uptake in Three Districts of Ghana

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient that is required in small amounts to maintain good health, particularly in children [1]. A recent meta-analysis of 16 published trials showed that there was a 24% reduction in risk of all mortality in children aged six months to five years in response to vitamin A supplementation. There was a 28% reduction in cause specific mortality associated with diarrhea, and a significant reduction in the incidence of diarrhea by 15% and measles by 50%. The same meta-analysis showed that vitamin A supplementation produced a 15% reduction in the incidence and prevalence of night blindness and a 68% reduction in the prevalence of blinding xerophthalmia [2]. Strategies to reduce vitamin A deficiency are promotion of home gardening, health education, food diversification and fortification, and vitamin A supplementation [3,4]. Of these strategies, distribution of vitamin A supplements is the most cost effective and has been adopted as a key component of the Millennium Development Goals of reducing under 5 mortality by two thirds by the year 2015 [5]. Vitamin A deficiency is considered a public health problem in over 60 countries including Ghana [6].