Vitamin A supplements give children a healthy start in life
Outreach events in remote villages are providing every child with Vitamin A, boosting their immune systems at an early age
25 December 2023, Takeo – Fourty-four-year-old Mei Ratana says even if health workers didn’t provide outreach services to her village, she would still her take her four-year-old nephew on the 4-kilometer-long journey to the nearest health Centre to make sure he grows healthy and strong. She knows that if Mony Reach misses out on important milestones at the first stages of life, including strengthening his immune system, it might hurt his chances to reach his full potential in the future.
“I enjoy taking good care of my nephew,” she says. “I have observed that Vitamin A and other health services like vaccinations are helping his health. He never catches serious illnesses.”
Luckily for her, health workers come to the village to provide essential health services including measuring children's height and weight, providing also Vitamin A supplementation and deworming. They also educate communities about what children need in their earliest years to support their development, recommending breastfeeding right after birth, exclusive breastfeeding until the baby turns six months, and introducing nutritious, vitamin-rich complementary foods when the baby is ready after six months.
“Vitamin A helps children grow strong, prevents blindness and makes their eyes healthy,” explains Ratana, who usually takes care of four-year-old Mony Reach during the day while his parents are at work. “I prepare food like rice and soup with fish, pork, vegetables and pumpkin, and I have also learned that vitamins can be found in ripe yellow fruits such as mango, papaya, banana, and breastmilk.”
While caregivers may do their best to give their children nutritious meals, many families in Cambodia may not be able to afford to buy vitamin-rich foods year-round. Vitamin A supplements are a low-cost solution to Vitamin A deficiency, which is a leading cause of preventable childhood blindness and increases the risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as measles and diarrhea. Across the country, 64 per cent of children have been reported receiving Vitamin A, MoH-HIS-2023 while other 36% of children aged 6-59 months not fully receive Vitamin A during the year.
Ratana lives in Sei Ma village in Oudam Soriya commune, which is more than 20 kilometers from Takeo provincial town. She said she learned about the outreach event from community health volunteers from her local Village Health Support Group (VHSG).
Since 2022, 300,000 children have benefited from UNICEF’s support for the Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGC) Vitamin A supplementation programme, which aims to address Vitamin A deficiency across eight provinces by reaching as many children aged 6-59 months as possible with high-dose supplements twice a year.
UNICEF’s support for the programme, with funding from L’Occitane Foundation, focuses on strengthening Primary Health Care and training health workers to conduct integrated health and nutrition outreach in their communities, including screening for acute malnutrition.
According to Cambodian Demographic Health Survey 2021-2022, 22 per cent of children under the age of five are stunted, a significant drop over the past decade, but the prevalence of childhood wasting has remained unchanged at around 10 per cent.
Oudam Soriya Health Centre, which organized the health outreach session in Ratana’s village, serves almost 20,000 people across two communes and 21 villages, including 2,000 children under five. They offer Vitamin A supplementation as part of their routine integrated maternal and child health services and regular community outreach. The health center staff work closely with VHSG volunteers to pre-inform communities about their services, identify gathering areas, and follow-up with children to ensure they receive each dose and do not miss out.
“I want to see every child getting Vitamin A supplements twice a year,” says Chea Sopheap, the midwife working at the health center who joins the outreach events, adding that mothers should know that breastmilk and other foods are also rich in nutrients.
“Vitamin A can be found in colostrum and breastmilk, as well as dark green vegetables and ripe yellow fruits, which can help prevent common illnesses and wasting.” Colostrum is the first milk produced by mothers after giving birth, a nutrient-dense fluid that helps to build a newborn baby's immune system in its first days of life.
Heng Sipheng, nutrition focal point at Takeo Provincial Health Department (PHD), also reports that when parents bring their children to the outreach sessions for them to be screened for malnutrition, by offering deworming and Vitamin A supplements at the same time, they can reach a greater number of target children.
VHSG members also play an important role in tracing children who have missed receiving Vitamin A supplements, because caregivers may have limited knowledge about its benefits and may lack transportation to the nearest health center. Those parents are then informed and encouraged to bring their children to the health center or attend an outreach event.
Lang Sarem, 59 years old, has been serving as a VHSG volunteer for over 17 years." I want to see all children receive Vitamin A, as a healthy and strong child helps to reduce expenditure when they are ill and helps their families in my village have better lives,” she says. “If children do not receive Vitamin A, they will be exposed to common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and respiratory infections, and their family will spend money and time on hospitalization.”
She also plans to propose that health workers leave some of the Vitamin A and deworming capsules behind so that any children who missed out during the event can benefit.
“I appreciate all health center staff who are committed to come to our village to deliver health services, which make my community’s children healthy,” she adds. “I am also grateful to people in my village who listen to me and always utilize the services, both in the community and health centre. I am committed to continue my good work and urge them to maintain their participation in the next outreach event.”
