Vitamin A dose at birth reduces infant death by 15pc
A dose of vitamin A to newborn babies within seven hours can reduce infant mortality by 15 percent in Bangladesh, says findings of a research study.
John Hopkins University in USA and Jivita Bangladesh, a research component funded by USAID-Bangladesh Health and Population Programme under health and family welfare ministry, conducted the study among 16,000 newborns in Gaibandha and Rangpur districts from 2004 to 2007.
Under the study, 80 percent of newborn babies were given the Vitamin A dose within seven hours of birth.
“These findings confirm those of two other studies in Asia one in Indonesia and the other in India --making newborns vitamin A delivery a promising new intervention to reduce infant mortality across South Asia, where the overall average reduction may be closer to 20 percent,” Prof Keith P West of Johns Hopkins, USA, said at the press conference here yesterday.
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