RANGPUR – Health experts at an orientation cum planning meeting here have laid emphasis on providing Vitamin A Plus capsule to every child under the age of five years to build a healthier nation.

Rangpur City Corporation (RpCC) organised the meeting in its hall room on Wednesday afternoon on the occasion of
National Vitamin A Plus Campaign-2018 to be held on July 14 elsewhere in the country.

Mayor of Rangpur Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa attended the meeting as the chief guest with RpCC Chief Executive
Officer Akhter Hossain Azad in the chair.

President of Rangpur district unit of Bangladesh Medical Association Dr Md Delwar Hossain, chief medical officer of RpCC Dr Kamruzzaman Ibne Taz and its Health Inspector Abdul Kaiyum addressed.

Dr Taz said a total of 666 supervisors, health workers and volunteers will provide Vitamin A Plus capsules at 297 outreach centres in all 33 wards of the city from 8 am to 4 pm on the day.

A total of 20,300 babies aged between six and 11 months and 1.08-lakh babies between 12 and 59 months will be
administered with one dose of one lakh unit Vitamin A Plus Blue capsule and one dose of two lakh unit of
Vitamin A Red capsule each respectively. “Intake of Vitamin A increases disease resistant capacities of the
babies to ensure their normal growth, reduce death risk and prevent night blindness and other vision-related
problems and corneal abrasion,” Dr Taz added.

Dr Delwar Hossain discussed utmost importance of providing Vitamin A Plus capsule to every under-five baby also to reduce 30 percent measles-related and 33 percent diarrhoea-related death risks of the under five babies.

“Vitamin A Plus capsule has no side effect in general,” Dr Hossain said and called upon the parents not to contact health officials concerned if their babies would show vomiting tendency after taking the capsule.

The chief guest called upon all concerned to ensure providing Vitamin A Plus capsule to every child on way to achieve the sustainable development goals by further reducing infant mortality rate.