Vitamin A Deficiency

Focus groups helped choose a logo to indicate the fortification of cooking oil with vitamin A in Bolivia.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), often in association with protein-energy malnutrition, principally affects preschool children. Each year 250,000 to 500,000 children become blind due to VAD, and two-thirds of these children are likely to die as a result of their disability. An estimated 1 million additional children die each year of infectious diseases because VAD impairs their resistance to infection. Almost 250 million children in developing countries are at risk.

The risk of dying from diarrhea, measles, and malaria is increased 20-24% in children with Vitamin A deficiency. In Bolivia, PSI is assisting the government in promoting Vitamin A fortified cooking oil to combat pervasive Vitamin A deficiency among Bolivian children.