Working with partner agencies, GAVA collects and summarizes best practices and lessons learned to create practical case studies, program guides, manuals and toolkits that facilitate effective program implementation. GAVA’s collection of resources evolves alongside the global vitamin A supplementation (VAS) knowledge base, offering practical tools and information to policy-makers, program implementers and other stakeholders worldwide.
For all of GAVA’s resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit our page on VAS & COVID-19.
Countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks where VAD is a public health problem and under-5 mortality rates are high are faced with the challenge of finding the right balance between preventing the spread of COVID-19 and minimizing disruptions to VAS delivery. GAVA developed a decision-making framework and proposed process for a risk-benefit analysis to help countries that traditionally deliver VAS through campaigns decide how best to proceed with VAS delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although VAS programs aim to reach all children, regardless of sex, they often do not consider how gender inequality may affect the outcome of coverage or the burden of participation on caregivers and providers. This policy brief was developed to help countries identify and address gender equity and equality issues and discuss how programs can become more gender responsive or gender transformative in the future.
Given the proven child survival benefits of vitamin A supplementation (VAS), decisions to scale-back or shift from universal VAS should be based on information that verifies that vulnerable populations have an adequate and sustained vitamin A status from dietary sources and other interventions. This brief highlights a four-phase process developed by GAVA to guide decision-making on when to sustain, modify, or scale-back VAS based on the context.
Creating a 6-month postpartum contact within the health system can provide an opportunity for the timely delivery of an integrated package of interventions. These interventions, including vitamin A Supplementation, show high impact on both maternal and child health and nutrition status. Several countries have piloted this and are beginning to scale it up. This brief describes the rationale, process, results and lessons learned from country experiences.
This Technical Brief is intended to assist countries in deciding whether to continue or stop post-partum vitamin A supplementation by summarizing what is known, identifying information gaps and highlighting considerations for policy makers.
This GAVA document provides comprehensive guidance on the programmatic adaptations recommended to safely administer VAS to preschool-aged children and maintain the continuity of VAS services during the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains guidance for program managers on preparing for the delivery of VAS, as well as detailed step-by-step instructions on how to safely deliver VAS using appropriate infection prevention and control measures.
This document was developed to guide district-level programme managers in the development of simplified monitoring plans for their vitamin A supplementation (VAS) programs, and to facilitate the improved use of data for programme decision-making. This guide is only available in English.
This document was developed to guide national-level program managers in the development of simplified monitoring plans for their vitamin A supplementation (VAS) programs, and to facilitate the improved use of data for programme decision-making. This guide is only available in English.
This document was developed to provide a standardized methodology to assess coverage of services during vitamin A supplementation, de-worming and immunization events.
For reports and other documents from GAVA meetings, visit our Meetings and Events page.
For global, evidence-informed recommendations on the use of vitamin A supplements, click on the appropriate link below:
WHO Guideline: Neonatal vitamin A supplementation
WHO Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation for infants 1-5 months of age
WHO Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation for infants and children 6-59 months of age
WHO Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation in postpartum women
Recommendations on the use of vitamin A supplements during pregnancy can be found in the WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience.
Search for further information on vitamin A on eLena.