At least seven people have died from suspected heatstroke in the country
Vitamin-A campaign on Saturday targets under-five children
The life-saving vitamin-A campaign will be carried out across Bangladesh on Saturday, State Minister for Health Zahid Maleque has said.
Published : 14 July 2016, 10:17 AM
Updated : 14 July 2016, 10:17 AM
At a press briefing on Thursday, he said, over 2O million children between six months and 59 months would be targeted for the campaign to prevent night blindness and enhance immunity.
Awareness messages on exclusive breastfeeding for under six months kids will also be distributed during the campaign at the 120,000 permanent and 20,000 mobile centres.
The centres will remain open from 8am to 4pm, Maleque said.
After the campaign, home-to-home checks are generally carried out in hard-to-reach districts to ensure the programme’s full coverage.
The government conducts this campaign twice a year. It has brought down the rate of night blindness to 0.04 percent now from the figure of 3.76 percent in 1982.
The impact of the deficiency increases the risk of infectious diseases.
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