Vitamin-A, breast feeding campaign on

The campaign to feed minor children with Vitamin-A capsule and promote breastfeeding began in the country on Saturday morning. Around 22 million children, aged between six months and five years, will be fed life saving vitamin-A capsule in the nationwide 8:00am to 4:00pm campaign. Officials say benefits of breastfeeding will also be campaigned during the vitamin feeding at 120,000 permanent outreaches and 20,000 mobile centres in all unions, upazilas, towns and cities in 64 districts. Vitamin-A prevents night blindness and boosts immune system of a child to fight off infections, a major killer. The campaign that the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition conducts six months apart has reduced night blindness to 0.04 per cent now from 3.76 per cent in 1982. British medical journal The Lancet said such campaign if held regularly can help reduce child deaths by 24 per cent. Usually an additional de-worming tablet was being fed to children between two and five years during the campaign. Last year the government decided not to feed the Vitamin-A tablets as rumours of children falling ill maligned the campaign in March, according to a news agency.