REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE WORLD BANK

The 1985 population of Bangladesh was 100,500,000, divided into four divisions, 64 districts (average population 1.6 million), 460 sub-districts or upazilas (220,000 population), 4339 unions and 85,000 villages. The health care system is illustrated in Figure 1.

Extent of the vitamin A deficiency problem

Nutritional blindness due to vitamin A deficiency/xerophthalmia (VAD/X) has been recognized for many years as a serious public health problem in Bangladesh. Dietary intake studies in 1962-4, 1975-6, and 1981-2 found low and apparently declining intakes of vitamin A and its precursors. In 1982, the average intake was 38% of recommended levels and only 10% of families were achieving these levels (Darnton-Hill, 1988). Intakes of energy, fat and other nutrients are also very low which can also have an impact on vitamin A status.

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