# Vitamin A in Nigeria

Vitamin A has 10 active NAFDAC registrations in our October 2026 copy of the register, from 8 registration holders; 7 further listings have lapsed.

- Source: https://ogbogwu.com/drugs/vitamin-a/
- Drug class: Fat-soluble vitamin (retinoid) (Vitamins & Supplements)
- Also known as: Retinol, Retinyl palmitate, Vitamin A capsules, Vitamin A 200,000 IU, Vitamin A 100,000 IU, Red capsule
- Prescription required: no
- On the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
- Last updated: October 2026

## Price in Nigeria

Our sampled online pharmacies held no single-ingredient vitamin A listing this cycle, so we quote no price. The high-dose capsules are a programme medicine before they are a shop medicine: Nigeria's Maternal, Newborn and Child Health weeks hand them to children free, twice a year, alongside deworming. The one registered retail product, Krishat's 200,000 IU capsule, is Nigerian-made and sold in blisters of ten; ask a licensed pharmacy and check the NAFDAC number on the blister.

## What is Vitamin A?

Vitamin A is the fat-soluble vitamin the eye uses to see in dim light and the body uses to keep the lining of the gut, lungs and eyes intact and the immune system working. In Nigeria it matters most as a public-health medicine: a child short of vitamin A is far more likely to go blind, and far more likely to die of measles, diarrhoea or pneumonia, which is why the high-dose capsule — the soft red or blue capsule cut open and squeezed into a child's mouth — is given to every child under five in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health weeks, twice a year, alongside deworming. It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines as retinol.

The dose is the whole story with vitamin A. The programme capsules come in two sizes, 100,000 IU for infants of six to eleven months and 200,000 IU for children of one to five years, and the same 200,000 IU capsule treats measles and xerophthalmia. Those are enormous doses by any other standard — a daily supplement carries a few thousand IU — and they are safe precisely because they are given once and months apart. A 200,000 IU capsule is never a daily tablet, and high-dose vitamin A is never given in pregnancy, where it can harm the baby.

On the Nigerian register the picture is narrow. In our October 2026 copy, the only single-ingredient vitamin A product with a current registration is Krishat Vitamin A Capsules 200,000 IU (A11-100636), made in Nigeria by Krishat Pharma Industries; Jesdol 25,000 IU (B4-9005, Indian-made) expired in September 2023. No product is registered at 100,000 IU. The capsules handed out in MNCH weeks reach children through the government and partner supply chain rather than the retail shelf, and small 25,000 IU doses appear on NAFDAC's separate list of herbal and nutritional products (Naza Vitamin A, A7-103259) rather than in the medicines register. Vitamin A also sits inside dozens of registered multivitamins at ordinary daily doses, which is a different medicine for a different purpose.

## What is Vitamin A used for?

- Vitamin A supplementation of children aged six months to five years, in programmes and in clinics
- Treatment of measles in children — two doses, the second the next day
- Night blindness, dry eye and other signs of vitamin A deficiency (xerophthalmia)
- Support in severe acute malnutrition, persistent diarrhoea and recurrent chest infection, under a health worker's protocol

## Dosage

Always follow a doctor's or pharmacist's instructions; this is general reference information.

- Adults: Adults rarely need high-dose vitamin A: deficiency in adults is treated by a clinician, typically 200,000 IU on the day of diagnosis, again the next day, and once more two to four weeks later, with the exception of women who are or may be pregnant. Day-to-day needs (about 700 to 900 micrograms, roughly 2,300 to 3,000 IU) come from food — red palm oil, liver, eggs, mango, pawpaw, carrots and dark green leaves — or from an ordinary multivitamin. Do not take more than 10,000 IU a day on a regular basis without medical advice.
- Children: Supplementation: 100,000 IU once for infants aged six to eleven months; 200,000 IU every four to six months from twelve months to five years. Measles: 200,000 IU on the day of diagnosis and again the next day for children of one year and over (100,000 IU per dose at six to eleven months; 50,000 IU under six months), with a third dose two to four weeks later if there are eye signs. Xerophthalmia uses the same three-dose course. The capsule is cut with clean scissors and the oil squeezed into the child's mouth; a child who can swallow it may take it whole.
- Elderly: No high-dose use outside treated deficiency. Older adults taking a daily supplement should keep to ordinary multivitamin doses.

Record every programme dose on the child's immunisation card — the danger with vitamin A is not a missed dose but a second one too soon. A child who has had 200,000 IU in the last month should not receive another unless a clinician is treating measles or eye disease. Pregnant women must not be given the 200,000 IU capsule; where a programme gives mothers vitamin A at all it is only within six to eight weeks of delivery, and the WHO no longer recommends even that routinely.

## Side effects

Common: In infants after a programme dose: a bulging soft spot (fontanelle), vomiting, irritability or a loose stool for a day — this passes and is not a reason to withhold the next scheduled dose; Headache and nausea in older children and adults after a high dose.

Serious (seek medical help immediately): Acute toxicity from a very large or repeated dose: severe headache, drowsiness, persistent vomiting, blurred vision, peeling skin; Chronic toxicity from months of excess (usually from daily high doses, not programme capsules): dry cracked skin and lips, hair loss, bone and joint pain, liver damage, raised pressure in the head; Birth defects when high doses are taken in early pregnancy.

When to see a doctor: Take a child to the clinic if vomiting continues beyond a day after a dose, if the soft spot stays raised or the child is unusually drowsy, or if a child has been given two high doses within a few weeks by mistake. Night blindness or a dry, dull eye in any child needs a health worker the same week — it is the first visible sign of a deficiency that can take sight.

## Warnings

Do not take if: High-dose vitamin A (anything above 10,000 IU a day, including the 100,000 and 200,000 IU capsules) in pregnancy or in a woman who may be pregnant; Known hypervitaminosis A; A second high dose within four months of the last, outside a clinician's treatment course.

Interactions: Oral retinoids for acne and psoriasis (isotretinoin, acitretin) add to vitamin A's effects — do not combine; Orlistat and mineral-oil laxatives reduce absorption of fat-soluble vitamins; Very high vitamin A may increase the effect of warfarin; Multivitamins already containing vitamin A should not be stacked with high-dose capsules.

Pregnancy & breastfeeding: High-dose vitamin A causes birth defects and must not be given in pregnancy; pregnant women should also avoid liver and liver products, which carry very large amounts. Daily supplements for pregnancy keep vitamin A to about 3,000 IU or use beta-carotene instead. Breastfeeding mothers may be given a single 200,000 IU dose within six to eight weeks of delivery in some programmes; the vitamin passes into breast milk, which is the point, and is safe for the infant at that interval.

## Brands in Nigeria

Well-known NAFDAC-registered brands: Krishat Vitamin A Capsules (Krishat Pharma Industries Limited, made in Nigeria); Jesdol (Figab Golden Fingers Pharma Ltd, made in India).
Full searchable brand list: https://ogbogwu.com/drugs/vitamin-a/brands/

## How to verify it is genuine

1. A retail pack of high-dose vitamin A should carry a NAFDAC number. In our October 2026 copy of the register the only current one is Krishat Vitamin A Capsules 200,000 IU, A11-100636 (Krishat Pharma Industries, Nigeria). Jesdol 25,000 IU (B4-9005) expired in September 2023
2. Nothing is registered at 100,000 IU, so a shop pack labelled 100,000 IU and carrying a NAFDAC medicines number is a pack to check with particular care — look the number up and confirm the product name, strength and maker match
3. Capsules given in MNCH weeks or at a clinic are programme stock and may carry a UNICEF or partner label rather than a retail NAFDAC number; that is expected for programme supply, not a warning sign
4. A 25,000 IU 'vitamin A' with an A7 number ending in L is a listed nutritional product, checked in our listed-herbal directory rather than the medicines checker

Verify any NAFDAC number free (no login): https://ogbogwu.com/nafdac-checker/

## FAQs

### Is vitamin A 100,000 IU registered in Nigeria?

Not as a retail medicine. In our October 2026 copy of the NAFDAC register no vitamin A product is registered at 100,000 IU; the only single-ingredient vitamin A capsule with a current registration is Krishat's 200,000 IU (A11-100636), made in Nigeria. The 100,000 IU infant dose given in MNCH weeks reaches children through the government and partner programme supply chain. A clinic or programme buying vitamin A for infants should expect to source it through that chain, or to use the registered 200,000 IU capsule only where a clinician's protocol allows a half-capsule dose.

### How often can a child be given the vitamin A capsule?

Every four to six months from one to five years (200,000 IU), and once between six and eleven months (100,000 IU). That is what the twice-yearly MNCH weeks deliver. A second high dose sooner than four months is only given by a clinician treating measles, xerophthalmia or severe malnutrition. Write every dose on the child's card so the next team can see it.

### What is the red vitamin A capsule given with the deworming tablet?

The soft red capsule is the 200,000 IU vitamin A dose for children aged one to five; the blue one is the 100,000 IU dose for infants of six to eleven months. Health workers cut the nipple of the capsule and squeeze the oil into the child's mouth. It is given with albendazole or mebendazole in the same visit because both protect against the deficiency and anaemia that worms and poor diet cause together.

### Can I take vitamin A capsules when pregnant?

Not the high-dose capsules. Doses above 10,000 IU a day, and certainly the 100,000 and 200,000 IU capsules, can cause birth defects, especially in the first trimester. Pregnant women should take a prenatal supplement with a modest vitamin A content or beta-carotene, eat vitamin A-rich foods such as red palm oil, eggs, mango and dark green leaves, and avoid liver. Some programmes give a single 200,000 IU dose to mothers within six to eight weeks after delivery, when there is no risk to a pregnancy.

### Which foods in Nigeria are rich in vitamin A?

Red palm oil is the richest everyday source — a teaspoon covers a child's daily need — followed by liver, eggs, whole milk, and the orange and dark-green plant foods: mango, pawpaw, carrots, orange-fleshed sweet potato, pumpkin and ugu or other dark leafy vegetables. Vitamin A from plants is absorbed much better with a little oil in the same meal.

## Sources

- NAFDAC Greenbook (official register of approved products in Nigeria)
- WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
- British National Formulary (BNF)
- Nigerian Standard Treatment Guidelines (Federal Ministry of Health)