Vitamin Angels Expands Partnership with Ministry of Health in Indonesia

Vitamin Angels is supporting the Ministry of Health of Indonesia in implementing a national vitamin A supplementation program, marking the first time the organization has directly supported the nationwide campaign. Vitamin Angels trained health workers, updated communication strategies, and provided monitoring, evaluation, and, by working with local manufacturer Kimia Farma, delivered 870,000 vitamin A capsules.

Since 2015, Vitamin Angels has supported vitamin A supplementation and deworming through local nongovernmental organizations across the country. This expanded collaboration will go further toward supporting government-led nutrition programs across the country.  

Every February and August, the Ministry of Health of Indonesia runs a nationwide vitamin A campaign, providing the nutrient to children between 6 and 59 months to support vision, immune function, growth, and development. Vitamin A is proven to reduce child mortality by up to 24% in populations at risk of vitamin A deficiency, making effective implementation critical, Vitamin Angels reported.

According to the 2023 National Health Survey, 21.5% of children under five were stunted, and 8.5% experienced wasting. Despite the program’s scale, ensuring every eligible child receives the recommended two doses each year through the campaign is a challenge. According to the same survey, 49.9% of children received one dose of vitamin A and only 32.2% received the recommended two doses.

Vitamin Angels worked to strengthen multiple aspects of the program, including a review of information, education, and communication materials; developing communication strategies and behavior change resources; pre-testing campaign materials; strengthening monitoring and evaluation activities; training frontline health workers; and ensuring vitamin A availability for the August campaign.

“The greatest impact comes when governments lead and partners strengthen what’s already working,” said Otte Santika, Indonesia country advisor at Vitamin Angels. “Supporting the Ministry of Health’s national campaign for the first time marks an important milestone in our work to improve child health in Indonesia. We’re proud to contribute our technical expertise and experience to help strengthen a program that reaches millions of children across the country and continues to improve with each campaign.”

One of the campaign’s most prominent efforts was strengthening capacity of frontline health workers responsible for delivering vitamin A services. Vitamin Angels supported a Ministry of Health webinar led by officials, pediatric nutrition experts, and communication specialists. The live training included 3,755 participants and nearly 20,000 more have viewed the webinar since.

“Indonesia’s national vitamin A supplementation program plays a critical role in protecting the health and development of children across the country,” said Lovely Daisy, director of family health services for the Ministry of Health. “Together, we are building an even stronger program that will benefit more children in the years ahead.”