KARACHI, May 30: Sindh minister for health & population welfare, Maj-Gen Ehsan Ahmed, said here on Thursday that recent studies had indicated that nearly 38 per cent children under five years of age in Pakistan had some degree of Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD).
He was addressing the launching ceremony of two booklets in English and Sindhi on vitamin A by Dr Mubina Agbootwalla. “Around 260 million children in the world have such deficiency. Vitamin A is an essential micro nutrient and its deficiency is the leading cause of visual impairment in children. Every year quarter to half a million children go blind due to this deficiency,” the minister said.
The scenario, he said, offered food for thought for all, particularly healthcare providers, as VAD could be efficiently addressed through proper and regular education of doctors as well as the masses.
Appreciating Dr Mobina Agbootwalla, HOPE coordinator, for compiling the booklets, he said the contribution was an example to be followed.
About the booklets he said: “The booklet in English, intended for doctors, gives an overview of vitamin A as a micro nutrient, its availability in natural sources and the impact of its deficiency on human body. The booklet also underlines the various strategies being undertaken globally to combat the deficiency of vitamin A. The Sindhi booklet intended for paramedics and general population summarises the overall picture with special reference to vitamin A supplementation in very simple terms”.
Prof Abdul Ghafar Billo, speaking on the occasion, said: “Although clinical evidence of VAD in Pakistan are rare, yet it contributes 36% to 40% of all cases of measles and diarrhoea. The WHO reports 310 million pre-school children across the globe to be inflicted VAD-induced eye damages, including midnight blindness and other serious eye-related complications”.
The paediatrician regretted that micro nutrient deficiency, with particular reference to vitamin A, iron and iodine, though a common phenomenon among local children as well as women, continues to be largely overlooked.
“Despite the low level of realization, on the basis of recent studies Pakistan can easily be placed among the mid-risk areas with reference to VAD,” he said.
To address the situation, he said, the government of Pakistan and UNICEF had initiated an aggressive plan with an aim to eradicate VAD in five years and till date an estimated number of 25 million children, up to five years of age, were being given Vitamin A capsules.
The senior paediatrician, however, stressed that adequate measures be adopted to continue the programme after five years, when UNICEF might not be able to continue with its support.
Prof D. S. Akram, head of the paediatrics department Civil Hospital Karachi, said the deficiency was reflective of hunger and to check VAD adequate use of available sources of VAD offered by nature in the form of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and meat must be promoted. This, she said, could be ensured through proper education of the masses.
She also referred to the recent Third World-based studies showing that consumption of 30 grams to 39 grams of green vegetable, yellow vegetables and fruits could help check the deficiency. She said that eradication of measles was another efficient strategy to address VAD as “measles plays a major role in the depletion of VAD.”
Dr Asif Aslam of UNICEF, in his presentation, mentioned that 47% of all children below five in Sindh were moderately or severely malnourished, adding that the situation had further deteriorated since the drought in the year last year.
Dr Shamsuddin Ansari, Prof Iqbal Memon, Dr Mubina Agbootwalla, Dr Ali Nawaz Sheikh and others also spoke on the occasion.—APP
