HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDER FACTORS INFLUENCING VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENTATION COVERAGE TO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN GUCHA DISTRICT

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem accounting for about 0.6 million deaths, and 9% of global childhoodDisability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Gucha District in western Kenya is endemic for subclinical vitamin Adeficiency. Concerted efforts to address this problem through periodic supplementation of vitamin A amongpreschool children in health facilities have borne little success. Coverage of routine vitamin A supplementation hasremained suboptimal and therefore denying children aged below five years the benefits of optimal vitamin Alevels. Being a malaria endemic area, children in Gucha district stand to benefit most from optimal vitamin Acoverage as studies have shown that vitamin A supplementation reduces all cause mortality among children. Themain aim/objective of this study was to identify health service provider factors related to vitamin Asupplementation coverage. A cross-sectional survey design was used and the study population consisted of 85health workers and 5 members of the district health management team (DHMT). Cluster sampling was used toselect 25 health workers. All the 5 members of the District Health Management Team were included in the study. Aquestionnaire and a focus group discussion were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed using Epiinfo. whereas qualitative data was thematically analysed. The results showed poor documentation by healthworkers, frequent stock outs of vitamin A supplements and inadequate supervision by the district healthmanagement team as the main factors responsible for the low vitamin A supplementation coverage in GuchaDistrict.