Kathmandu:The government has announced plans to administer Vitamin ‘A’ to approximately 2.1 million children nationwide on November 3 and 4. This initiative is part of the national Vitamin ‘A’ programme, which is an annual effort to enhance child health across the country.
According to National News Agency RSS, the regular schedule for the Vitamin ‘A’ programme usually falls on the 2nd and 3rd of Kattik. However, due to a scheduling conflict with the Dashain festival, the dates have been shifted to the 17th and 18th of Kattik, corresponding to November 3 and 4.
Lila Bikram Thapa, chief of the Nutrition Section at the Department of Health Services, stated that Vitamin ‘A’ capsules will be administered to children aged six months to 59 months, and deworming tablets will be given to children aged one to five years. The Department aims to distribute Vitamin ‘A’ capsules to around 2.1 million children and deworming tablets to approximately 2 million. Supplies have already been sent to provincial health supply centers to facilitate the programme.
The Vitamin ‘A’ programme has been part of the government’s regular schedule since 2050 BS, with the deworming tablets introduced in 2056 BS. For this national effort, 52,000 female community health volunteers and 10,000 health workers are set to be mobilized to ensure the successful delivery of these health supplements.