In the 1990’s, 2-8% of preschool-aged Nepali children experienced severe vitamin A deficiency, or xerophthalmia, associated with blindness and risk of child death. Vitamin A deficiency affects approx. 21% of the developing world’s preschool-aged children and leads to the deaths of over 800,000 woman and children each year. With the support of USAID, the government of Nepal initiated the National Vitamin A Programme which aimed to provide twice-yearly supplements of vitamin A capsules to children in priority districts. The NVAP prevents blindness in approximately 2,000 children each year and was found to reduce by about half the mortality rate for children under 5 years of age in Nepal between 1995 and 2000. Source: Ruth Levine, Global Health: Millions Saved