 A variety of studies over the past 15 years have demonstrated that clinical vitamin A deficiency is associated with increased mortality in pre-school aged children 1,2 and that supplementation of populations with endemic sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency can significantly reduce total mortality 3-8. A recent meta-analysis of 8 clinical trials showed that vitamin A supplementation of children 6 months through 5 years of age reduced mortality by an average of 23 9. While the average impact was 23, there was significant variation in the results of these studies. The impact was as high as 54 among children in an underprivileged area of Tamil Nadu supplemented with small weekly doses of vitamin A 4. 