Vitamin A shown to lower infant mortality rate

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta

A study has proven vitamin A to be effective in lowering the country's infant mortality rate, but the Ministry of Health said that a poor awareness campaign led to fewer infants being given the vitamin last year.

Medical expert Muhilal of Padjadjaran University in Bandung said on Monday his survey -- conducted on 3,200 infants in Bogor, West Java, in the early 1990s -- showed that adequate consumption of vitamin A by children aged below five years old helped reduce the infant mortality rate to 40 per 100,000 births, from 70 per 100,000 births the previous year.

"Vitamin A helps improve infants' health as it stimulates their immunity against disease. Yet, not many people are aware of the importance of vitamin A as most think it is useful only for sight," Muhilal said.

Last year's government-sponsored free vitamin A program, which began in 1972, failed to reach the national target of 80 percent of the country's total number of infants and toddlers due to a lackluster public awareness campaign.

Ministry of Health's Director General of Public Health Azrul Azwar said the program last year managed to cover only 56.63 percent of the country's infant population and 71.53 percent of the toddler population.

The poor achievement continued this year, with only 60 percent of the total infant population covered in February.

Indonesia's population of children aged below five stands at 20 million, while the population of babies aged below 12 months stands at four million, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health.

In 2002, the program was considered successful as it covered 83.6 percent of the country's infant population and 85.1 percent of the toddler population.

Under the program, vitamin A is given to children and postpartum mothers for free every February and August.

To regain its past performance, the ministry will intensify the campaign in 25 provinces, including West, Central and East Java, East and West Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, North Sumatra and West Kalimantan.

Integrated health units and health clinics in villages, community health centers in districts and hospitals will work together to help distribute vitamin A to residents, Azrul said.

The government is also cooperating with Helen Keller International, which will distribute brochures and leaflets to promote the program.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are participating in providing vitamin A capsules.

Inadequate consumption of vitamin A can result in low immunity, leading to various ailments, such as diarrhea, bronchitis, pneumonia and blindness.