Back to browse results
Evaluating equity dimensions of infant and child vitamin A supplementation programmes using Demographic and Health Surveys from 49 countries
Authors: Kevin Tang, Hallie Eilerts, Annette Imohe, Katherine P Adams, Fanny Sandalinas, Grainne Moloney, Edward Joy, and Andreas Hasman
Source: BMJ Open, Volume 13; DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062387
Topic(s): Child health
Health equity
Vitamin A
Country: More than one region
  Multiple Regions
Published: MAR 2023
Abstract: Objectives: Vitamin A deficiency affects an estimated 29% of all children under 5?years of age in low/middle-income countries, contributing to child mortality and exacerbating severity of infections. Biannual vitamin A supplementation (VAS) for children aged 6–59 months can be a low-cost intervention to meet vitamin A needs. This study aimed to present a framework for evaluating the equity dimensions of national VAS programmes according to determinants known to affect child nutrition and assist programming by highlighting geographical variation in coverage. Methods: We used open-source data from the Demographic and Health Survey for 49 countries to identify differences in VAS coverage between subpopulations characterised by various immediate, underlying and enabling determinants of vitamin A status and geographically. This included recent consumption of vitamin A-rich foods, access to health systems and services, administrative region of the country, place of residence (rural vs urban), socioeconomic position, caregiver educational attainment and caregiver empowerment. Results: Children who did not recently consume vitamin A-rich foods and who had poorer access to health systems and services were less likely to receive VAS in most countries despite potentially having a greater vitamin A need. Differences in coverage were also observed when disaggregated by administrative regions (88% of countries) and urban versus rural residence (35% of countries). Differences in vitamin A coverage between subpopulations characterised by other determinants of vitamin A status varied considerably between countries. Conclusion: VAS programmes are unable to reach all eligible infants and children, and subpopulation differences in VAS coverage characterised by various determinants of vitamin A status suggest that VAS programmes may not be operating equitably in many countries.
Web: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/3/e062387.info