3.51 lakh babies to get Vitamin A+ Capsule in Rangpur

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RANGPUR, Aug 03, 2017 (BSS) – Necessary preparations have been completed to make the August 5 National Vitamin A Plus Campaign-2017 for over 3.51 lakh under five babies successful in the district.

Civil Surgeon Dr Abu Md Zakirul Islam disclosed the information at a press briefing at Sadar Hospital auditorium and sought cooperation of the mass media in making the campaign successful.

The campaign will be conducted under the auspices of the Public Health and Nutrition Institute (PHNI) and National Nutrition Services (NNS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Planning and assistance of Micronutrient Initiative, World Health Organisation and UNICEF.

The civil surgeon said one dose of one lakh international unit (IU) Vitamin A Blue capsule would be administered to each of the 37,688 babies (6-11 months) and one dose of two lakh IU Vitamin A Red capsule to each of the 3.13 lakh babies (12-59 months) under the campaign.

“A total of 6,188 health workers, supervisors and volunteers will work at 1,931 centres and special arrangements will be made at bus terminals, rail stations and other places to make the campaign a success,” Dr Zakirul Islam added.

Representative of UNICEF for Rangpur Abu Mohammad Abdullah, Medical Officers Dr Mehzabun Kulsum and Dr Nuzhat Afroz, Police Inspector (Admin and Finance) Mahbubur Rahman of District Police Office also addressed the occasion.

Abu Mohammad Abdullah said the campaign would be conducted to reduce death risks of babies, save them from blindness caused by shortage of Vitamin A and disseminate knowledge among mass people about nutritional aspects of children.

The civil surgeon sought cooperation of the mass media, parents, public representatives and civil society members to make the National Vitamin A Plus Campaign successful in the district.