Vitamin A Supplementation in Nigeria-Challenges and Prospects

International audience Objectives: To assess the progress made in vitamin A supplementation in Nigeria.To assess the challenges experienced and proffer solutions.Methods: The method used for this study involved the review of data collated from different reports from State monitors of the Maternal, newborn and child health week (MNCHW), call-in data from all the states sent to operations centre, ward and Local Government Area summary sheet data, and data sent from UNICEF Consultants.Desk review of MNCHW reports and interviews with key agencies using questionnaires were used. Field observations during November 2010 and 2011 MNCHW were also one of the sources of information gathering for this study. Furthermore, staff from all the partner organizations were interviewed for their assessment of the programmes in the states where they monitored. Data obtained were statistically analyzed.Results: Due to the increasing interest in the MNCHW, by 2011 all the states increased their interventions to cover all the major services. One hundred percent of all the states of the federation provided vitamin A supplements for their children under-five. The overall coverage has increased from 27% to 57.4% in 2011.Conclusions: The MNCHW made it possible to reach more children with vitamin A than the routine service. This round of 5 days long delivery of maternal and child survival interventions complement routine health services by ensuring that basic care reaches all mothers and children.Challenges of data management, training and inter-agency cooperation could be improved for better service delivery. Vitamin A supplementation would help reduce under-five mortality rate in Nigeria