KARACHI, Oct 11: Ten to 20 per cent of children under the age of five in the country are reported to be suffering from vitamin A deficiency (VAD), said a recent UNICEF report.

The situation is attributed to the consumption of food containing very low or even no content of vitamin A, which may lead to partial or absolute blindness among children, besides a wide range of other diseases, ultimately leading to death.

Owing to poverty and low literacy levels in Pakistan, the situation turns more grim, as a significant majority of people are yet to realize its gravity, while many others do not know of the easily available foods that can make up for this deficiency. These include all yellow and orange coloured fruits and vegetables including papaya, mango, carrots, besides dairy products and green, leafy vegetables.

According to the report, the early detection of acute VAD on the part of health workers and mothers could help contain the situation. The report adds that initially, a child is unable to see properly in the dark.

A mother should immediately turn cautious noticing her child tumbling and crashing against things in darkness, the report stressed, mentioning that the child might be suffering from night blindness.

Such children are also unable to see for long in sharp daylight, as tears start rolling out of their eyes. The condition must again be taken as a warning, and a qualified doctor should be immediately approached.

Those inflicted with VAD also complain of irritation in their eyes, which often remain red. Small sized bit spots may also develop within the eyes, which after some time may emerge as a white coloured thick substance.

Timely medical intervention could help prevent the stage where ulcers develop within the eyes, and the child ultimately looses his/her sight.

Proper supplementation of vitamin A could help restore the sight of the effected children. This, however really depends on the intensity of the damage caused.

As long as the condition is restricted to night blindness and eruption of spots, there is always a possibility of recovery. However, once the ulcers develop, chances of restoration are severely restricted.

Apart from blindness, children suffering from VAD are also vulnerable to diarrhoea and pneumonia. VAD induced pneumonia persists for over two weeks, which relapses after a gap of another one or two weeks.

Since under the condition, the child is not in the position to properly digest the food consumed by him/her, he/she is exposed to severe malnourishment, thus appearing vulnerable to many other diseases.

Measles is one of the diseases that severely effects the vitamin A levels in the child’s body, and weakens his immunity against tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrhoea.

It has been scientifically proven that providing vitamin A in sufficient quantities to children suffering from the above mentioned diseases reduces mortality rates by at least 50 per cent.—APP