Dhaka: Vitamin-A Plus campaign in Bangladesh will be conducted on Saturday to feed over two crore children aged six months to five years vitamin-A Plus to prevent childhood blindness and reduce child mortality in the country.

Under the campaign, the children aged between six months and 11 months will be given vitamin-A Plus capsule with blue color while the children aged between 12 and 59 months will be administered vitamin-A Plus with red color on the day, State Minister for Health and Family  Welfare Zahid Malik told a press conference in the conference room of the health ministry in Dhaka on Thursday.

Health Secretary Syed M Monzurul Islam, Director General of Health Service (DGHS) Dr Din Md Narul Haque and senior officials of the ministry, among others, were present at the press conference.

On the occasion, a health message on homemade balanced diets will be disseminated among the people to encourage them to feed their children when they will be aged six months.  

Zahid said health workers and volunteers will feed the vitamin-A Plus capsules from 1.20 lakh permanent centres and 20 thousand mobile centres across the country.

The centres will remain open from 8am to 4pm, he added. Mobile centres will perform their duties at bus stops, airports and launch terminals and different other transport points to administer the children vitamin-A plus capsules.  

The state minister said, due to regular campaign the rate of night blindness is now below one per cent in the country. ‘Vitamin-A capsule protects the children not only from blindness but it also decreases the rate of child mortality. Besides it decreases the range and complexity of Diarrhoea,’ he added.

Zahid Malik urged all parents to take their children to the campaign centres saying, ‘We want to ensure 100 percent coverage’.

He said a control room at every upazilla would monitor the campaign.

Liquid vitamin A is squeezed into child's mouth by cutting off the tip of the capsule.