By Barun Kumar Das

DHAKA, June 26, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh is set to resume its nationwide 
Vitamin A Plus Campaign on Sunday after a 14-month hiatus, with more than 24 
million children expected to receive Vitamin A capsules as health authorities 
complete preparations and distribute supplies to campaign centres across the 
country.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the campaign will run 
from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on June 28, targeting children aged between six and 
59 months to prevent childhood blindness, improve nutrition and strengthen 
immunity.

Officials said Vitamin A capsules have already been delivered to almost all 
campaign centres nationwide while the remaining few centres will receive 
supplies on Saturday.

Health Assistant Siddhartha Kumar of Tarash Sadar Union in Sirajganj told BSS 
that his centre had received the required quantity of capsules.

"We have received 1,156 red capsules and 115 blue capsules according to our 
requirements. Eligible children will be administered the capsules from 8:00 
am on Sunday," he said.

According to the National Nutrition Services (NNS), the campaign aims to 
cover 2,40,36,022 children. Of them, 28,38,794 children aged between six and 
11 months will receive blue Vitamin A capsules, while 21,197,228 children 
aged between 12 and 59 months will receive red capsules.

The DGHS said child-to-child searching activities will continue for four days 
after the campaign in remote areas covering 714 wards under 290 unions in 58 
upazilas across 12 districts to ensure that no eligible child is left out.

Pabna Civil Surgeon Dr Abul Kalam Azad told BSS that all preparations in the 
district had been completed. "Vitamin A capsules have already reached all 
campaign centres and we are fully prepared to implement the programme 
successfully," he said.

Director General of the DGHS Professor Dr. Pravath Chandra Biswas told BSS 
that the health authorities had taken all necessary measures for smooth 
implementation of the campaign.

"We have prepared 120,000 regular Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) 
centres across the country. Besides, 500 mobile centres have been established 
at launch terminals, ferry ghats, railway stations, bus terminals and other 
public places," he continued.

He further said the capsules had already reached the campaign centres and 
urged parents and guardians to take children aged between six and 59 months 
to their nearest centres to receive the Vitamin A capsules.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Health and Family Welfare 
Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain will formally inaugurate the nationwide 
campaign at Abu Sayeed Convention Centre in Shahbagh on Sunday morning.

State Minister for Health Dr M A Muhit and the Prime Minister's Adviser on 
Health Dr S M Ziauddin Hyder are expected to attend the inauguration 
ceremony.

Members of Parliament, together with local administration officials, will 
inaugurate the campaign at district and upazila levels, while field workers 
and volunteers will administer the capsules at the grassroots.

Civil surgeons and upazila health and family planning officers will monitor 
the programme locally, while central-level officials have also been 
instructed to supervise campaign activities across the country.

Nutrition officials said the campaign is normally conducted twice a year but 
had remained suspended since March last year due to a shortage of Vitamin A 
capsules.

According to the National Nutrition Services, Vitamin A plays a vital role in 
protecting children from nutrition-related blindness, strengthening the 
immune system, reducing the severity of prolonged diarrhoea and lowering 
child mortality.

Bangladesh launched its Vitamin A supplementation programme in 1973 under the 
National Night Blindness Prevention Programme. 

The initiative was integrated with the National Immunization Day in 1995, 
renamed the National Vitamin A Plus Campaign in 2003, and brought under the 
Directorate General of Health Services' National Nutrition Services in 2011.