Impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on early infant mortality: Community based randomised trial in southern India

Objective: To assess the impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on mortality at age 6 months. Design: Community based, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial. Setting: Two rural districts of Tamil Nadu, southern India. Participants: 11 619 newborn infants allocated 24 000 IU oral vitamin A or placebo on days 1 and 2 after delivery. Main outcome measure: Primary outcome measure was mortality at age 6 months. Results: Infants in the vitamin A group had a 22% reduction in total mortality (95% confidence interval 4% to 37%) compared with those in the placebo group. Vitamin A had an impact on mortality between two weeks and three months after treatment, with no additional impact after three months. Conclusion: Supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A can significantly reduce early infant mortality.