UNICEF fights Vitamin A deficiency

Accra, Dec. 16, GNA - The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with Procter and Gamble (P&G), makers of Pampers (a brand of baby diapers), has initiated a campaign aimed at eliminating maternal and new born deaths due to vitamin A deficiency. The campaign, known as the "1 pack 3D 2 Vitamin A Capsules," starts from December 16, 2008 to January 2009. During the campaign period for every Large or Active Baby Pack of Pampers bought, P&G will donate two Vitamin A capsules to the Government of Ghana, though UNICEF.

At a kick-start programme on Tuesday, Ms. Julianna Lindsey, Chief of the Advocacy, Communication, Monitoring and Analysis Section, UNICEF, said the campaign was expected to raise over 400,000 Vitamin A capsules to be distributed to over 200,000 children through the Ghana Health Service clinics and other health facilities. She said Vitamin A deficiency had been proved to be one of the major contributors of the high rate of infant and child mortality in a number developing countries including Ghana. Ms. Lindsey, saying the condition affects more than 100 million children globally and was responsible for every one in four deaths of children under-five years in countries and communities where the problem existed.

"A deficiency in Vitamin A can cause, among other things, night blindness, lower the immune system, thereby exposing children to various diseases and increase the rate of maternal mortality." Ms Lindsey commended P&G for the global initiative which had raised more than 50 million vaccines for UNICEF. She said the campaign was also being implemented in Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Iraq, and it was hoped to reach almost one million children in these five countries where more than 1.8 million Vitamin A capsules would be donated through the partnership with UNICEF. Dr Gloria Quansah Asare, Acting Director, Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said the health of mothers and children had been a priority of government, evidence of which had been clear in the various programmes and policies aimed at improving their health. "There are evidences of programmes, including the routine immunisation of Vitamin A to children under-five years and mothers after child birth, polio immunisations, the free distribution of Insecticide Treated Bed Nets (ITBN) as well as the free delivery services. Dr Asare said due to such interventions death of children from measles was now considered history in Ghana as no case of death had been reported for the past five years.

She said Vitamin A consumption in children had been proven to reduce the risk of death from measles by about 50 per cent, diarrhoea by about 40 per cent and the overall mortality by 25 to 35 per cent. "Vitamin A is thus as effective as immunisation or oral re-hydration in mortality prevention. Dr Quansah Asare called on all stakeholders as well as individual business entities to develop similar programmes aimed at improving the health status of Ghanaians.

Mrs Barbara Appiah, Business Developing Manager of Sikelele Healthcare Limited, national distributor for P&G, said the company had educated all its sales representatives and sub-distributors to inform customers about the promotion and branded its customer shops with point of sales materials.

"We have also trained merchandisers in the markets to talk to customers that any pack of pampers they buy, they are helping to donate a capsule of Vitamin A to Ghanaian babies," she said.