The difficulty of assessing night blindness in Malawi: Language barriers

Abstract

To the Editor: For a long time vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has been recognised as a public health problem in Malawi, primarily on the basis of localised studies. However, a national micronutrient survey conducted in 20012 showed that the prevalence of VAD (serum retinol < 20 mg/dl3) was 59.2% in preschool children and 57.4% in non-pregnant women of reproductive age, clearly indicating a very serious public health problem