DHAKA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government is set to launch a countrywide campaign to distribute Vitamin A-plus capsules to 22.6 million children between six months and five years old, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Thursday.
Tens of thousands of volunteers and health workers will be deployed to 120,000 permanent and makeshift centers across the country for the campaign on Saturday, said the ministry.
It has also urged all parents and guardians who have children aged between six months and five years to take their children to the nearest Expanded Program on Immunization vaccination center, community clinic and other healthcare centers to feed the capsules.
The ministry said that vitamin A not only prevents blindness, but also reduces the mortality rate of children under 5 by about a quarter. ■