Eradication of vitamin A deficiency with 5 cents and a vegetable garden.

1. It is estimated that 10 million children are vitamin A deficient. Of these children, over 1 million needlessly die, go blind, or suffer lesser degrees of visual impairment every year. This problem--along with all forms of malnutrition--is likely to be seriously magnified by the year 2000. The scope of the problem is immense, and the need to address it is urgent. 2. Interventions for the prevention of vitamin A deficiency and its consequences are considered to be some of the most cost-effective and health-productive in the Third World--and yet the problem remains immense, representing one of the greatest failures in global public health planning. 3. As ophthalmic professionals, we are at the center of this urgent public health concern. We have an important responsibility in the initiation and development of sustainable programs for health promotion and disease prevention.