ABSTRACT
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has been recognised as a major public health problem in India since 1960s. Surveys carried out in the southern and eastern parts of the country during this period had revealed that at least 30-50% of all children in the preschool age group suffered from eye manifestations as a result of deficiency of vitamin A [1]. It was estimated that about 12,000-14,000 children became blind in the country as result of keratomalacia caused due to severe deficiency of vitamin A. Studies of the past two decades indicate a substantial reduction in severe VAD problem and a reduction in ocular signs caused due to deficiency of vitamin A (Table 17.1). Such a decreasing trend observed in the
prevalence of VAD coincides with the implementation of the National Vitamin A Prophylaxis Programme in the entire country in the early 1970s under the Fourth Five Year Plan [1].
