title: Coverage of the national vitamin A supplementation program in Ethiopia.
abstract: Periodic vitamin A supplementation is a major intervention to reduce morbidity, mortality, and blindness among children in developing countries. The goal was to characterize the coverage of the Ethiopia national vitamin A program among preschool children and to identify risk factors for not receiving vitamin A. In the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey of 2005, among 4762 preschool children, aged 12-59 months, 46.8% received a vitamin A capsule within the last 6 months. There were no significant differences in stunting, underweight, or wasting between children who did or did not receive a vitamin A capsule. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, maternal education of > or =10 years [odds ratio (OR) 1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-2.92], 7-9 years (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.67-3.65), 4-6 years (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.18-2.07), and 1-3 years (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.90-1.37), and paternal education of > or =10 years (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.14-2.29), 7-9 years (OR 1.24, 95% CI 0.94-1.64), 4-6 years (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.03-1.56), and 1-3 years (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.05-1.50) were associated with the child receiving a vitamin A capsule compared with no years of formal parental education. Expanded coverage of the national vitamin A capsule program may help protect children from nutritional blindness and to help reach Millennium goals for reducing under-five child mortality in Ethiopia.
authors.affiliation: Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. rdsemba@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Semba
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Pee
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Martin W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Bloem
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Raju
mesh_terms: D001766:Blindness / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A