prices. Data are collected by authorities in selected rural districts and urban slums in the country. The NSP data have also been used by the GOB to improve or develop nutrition and health programmes such as the national vitamin A capsule distribution program. NSP has proven to be an excellent tool to aid long-term planning in health policies, to provide input for programme management and evaluation and to give timely warning of the need for intervention to prevent critical deterioration in food consumption. Diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness. Helen Keller International helps prepare health care systems to identify and treat diabetic retinopathy. In collaboration with Chittagong Eye Infirmary and Training Complex and the Diabetes Association of Bangladesh, HKI began a pilot project in 2009 to improve patients' access to sight-saving diabetic retinopathy treatment regardless of their ability to pay. Homestead Food Production (HFP) This programme aims to reduce malnutrition and increase food availability through creation of home gardens and small farms for raising livestock. In collaboration with local NGOs, HKI provides the seedlings, chicks, start up materials and technical skills to communities. Varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown in these home gardens to provide supplies of nutrient rich foods all year round. The objectives are to increase participants' micro-nutritional intakes by consuming a wider variety of foods, develop communities and empower women. HFP started in 1990 as a pilot project in Bangladesh with 1000 households participating. It includes nutrition education to complement home gardening. Following initial success, HKI launched the NGO Gardening and Nutrition Education Surveillance Project (NGNESP) which expanded the programme to communities across the country in 1993. By 2012, 900,000 households and 4.5 million people are participating in the project, with the help of 52 local NGOs. Women organise 90% of the gardens. A 2002 research shows that in a three months period, households participating in the HFP consumed had a daily per capita consumption of vegetables of 160g, more than double of the 71g for non-participating households. Vitamin A supplementation Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness and increases mortality rate for young children and women. The deficiency can be prevented with two doses of high potency vitamin A capsules every year. With the cost of providing the capsules at $1 per person per year, vitamin A supplementation is a cost-efficient initiative. HKI started the vitamin A supplementation project in Bangladesh in 1978.