Overview

This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on the use of vitamin A supplements for reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in populations where vitamin A deficiency may be a public health concern.

The guideline will help Member States and their partners in their efforts to make informed decisions on the appropriate nutrition actions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, in particular, reduction in child mortality (MDG 4), improvement in maternal health (MDG 5) and combating HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), malaria and other diseases (MDG 6). The guideline is intended for a wide audience including policy-makers, their expert advisers, and technical and programme staff in organizations involved in the design, implementation and scaling-up of nutrition actions for public health.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Summary
• Scope and purpose
• Background
• Summary of evidence
• Recommendation
• Remarks
• Dissemination
• Implications for future research
• Guideline development process
  • Advisory groups
  • Scope of the guideline, evidence appraisal and decision-making
• Management of conflicts of interest
• Plans for updating the guideline
• References
• Annex 1 GRADE “Summary of findings” table
• Annex 2 Members of the WHO/UNICEF Steering Committee for guidelines on vitamin A supplementation
• Annex 3 Members of the Vitamin A Supplementation Guideline Group, WHO Secretariat and external resource experts
• Annex 4 Members of the External Experts and Stakeholders Panel
• Annex 5 Questions in Population, Intervention, Control, Outcomes (PICO) format
• Annex 6 Summary of considerations for determining the strength of the recommendation

This publication is a WHO guideline. A WHO guideline is any document, whatever its title, containing WHO recommendations about health interventions, whether they be clinical, public health or policy interventions. A recommendation provides information about what policy-makers, health-care providers or patients should do. It implies a choice between different interventions that have an impact on health and that have ramifications for the use of resources. All publications containing WHO recommendations are approved by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee.

Financial support: WHO thanks the Government of Luxembourg for providing financial support for this work.

Suggested citation:

WHO. Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation in pregnancy for reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2011.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.

The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters.

All reasonable precautions have been taken by the World Health Organization to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall the World Health Organization be liable for damages arising from its use.