24/10/2013

Call For Free Vitamins For All Children

All children in the UK should be offered free vitamin supplements, England's chief medical officer has said.

Currently children under five with parents on benefits are offered vitamin A, C and D free of charge.

Prof Dame Sally Davies has used her annual report to call for this scheme to be extended in an effort to protect more children and save money.

Highlighting a "very worrying picture" of children's health, the chief medical officer said that people should be "profoundly ashamed".

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been asked to examine the cost-effectiveness of offering vitamins A, C and D to all children under five.

(MH/CD)

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