Vitamin A deficiency

Vitamin A Deficiency can cause permanent blindness, and even death. About 250 million children are showing signs of vitamin A deficiency such as difficulty seeing in poor light and dry eyes. This year an estimated 350,000 children will go blind and a further two million will die from a lack of vitamin A.

• 90% of blind and low vision children have no education and so there is little chance of escape from the darkness they endure.
• This blindness can be prevented with only two or three vitamin A capsules per year. Each tablet costs just 45c to provide.
• Vitamin A is also needed by a child's immune system and so giving vitamin-deficient children supplements lessens the chance of them suffering from other diseases.
• CBM was able to distribute over 1,265,000 vitamin A tablets during 2006.