Although Bangladesh has made important progress over the last two decades in the area of undernutrition, micronutrient malnutrition still poses a significant public health threat. To increase coverage in hard to reach areas and provide a more regularised supply of vitamin A to the general population, the Government of Bangladesh endorsed a national programme to fortify edible oil with vitamin A. This programme is implemented by the Ministry of Industries with technical support from UNICEF.
A National Micronutrient Survey was conducted to provide a current estimate of the prevalence of subclinical vitamin A deficiency, anaemia and iron deficiency, iodine deficiency, zinc deficiency and folate/B12 deficiency in preschool aged children, school aged children and non-pregnant, non-lactating women of reproductive age.
This survey constitutes the baseline for the national edible oil fortification programme, a continuum of the National Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) survey, follow up to decade old national anaemia and iron deficiency survey and for the first time constituting a national estimate of prevalence of zinc, folate and B12 deficiencies.