The Mortality Effects of Nepal's Vitamin A Distribution Program

Shea Rutstein, ORC Macro
Pav Govindasamy, ORC Macro

Since 1993 a vitamin A supplement distribution program for young children was progressively initiated into the 75 districts of Nepal. In 1999, vitamin A supplements also began to be distributed nationally during the National Immunization Day campaigns. The purpose of the current analysis is to evaluate the impact of the distribution of vitamin A supplements on infant and child mortality. Analyses estimate the reduction in various age-specific mortality rates of children under age five years. The study shows that there are significant correlations between young child mortality rates and program presence in a district. Under-five mortality reduced by almost 48 deaths per thousand births on average with vitamin A program presence in a district. The mortality rate reductions are then translated into numbers of deaths averted by the program. If the program had not been implemented, there would have been about 27,000 more deaths per year