Vitamin A is essential for the functioning of the human immune system. In industrialized countries, foods like flour or sugar have been fortified with it for decades. But it's not the same picture in some developing countries, where children with Vitamin A deficiency run the risk of dying from common childhood illnesses like measles. The cost of ensuring all children receive enough Vitamin A is peanuts: capsules cost just 2 cents each, but improve children's chances of survival by as much as 25%.
This episode of Life looks at the prospects for two very different Vitamin A distribution programs in Ghana and Guatemala, and asks whether the best way to ensure all children have access to the nutrients that can help them lead healthy, fulfilled lives isn't new, genetically-modified crops -- like the experimental Vitamin-A modified 'golden rice' currently being developed in Professor Ingo Potrykus' lab in Switzerland, as part of an initiative supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The producer of this program has collected extensive resources at www.tve.org/life/archive/life26main.html
The other titles in the series are:
1. Life: The Story So Far - How the globalized world economy affects ordinary people.
2. Geraldo Off-Line - Globalized economy affects Brazilian factory worker.
3. From Docklands to Dhaka - English MD travels to Bangladesh to improve community health.
4. An Act of Faith: The Phelophepa Health Train - A group of health professionals tours the most deprived regions of South Africa providing care.
5. The Philadelphia Story - Globalized economy affects American jobs.
6. The Boxer - Young male looks to escape Mexican poverty by becoming a boxer in the United States.
7. The Seattle Syndrome - Were the WTO protesters right in their effort to protect workers and the environment from exploitation?
8. The Right to Choose - Women are denied human rights in Ethiopia and northern Nigeria.
9. At the End of a Gun: Women and War - The devastating effect that the civil war in Sri Lanka is having on women.
10. The Summit - The UN General Assembly meets to review progress on social justice worldwide.
11. All Different, All Equal - Examines progress in women's rights globally.
12. India Inhales - Activists combat tobacco companies that target India.
13. The Silver Age - Growing population of elderly worldwide seeks purpose and care.
14. The Cost of Living - AIDS drugs unaffordable in developing countries.
15. The Posse - Rap group in Sao Paulo, Brazil, expresses social problems.
16. Credit Where Credit is Due - Micro-credit organization in Bangladesh provides loans to village poor.
17. Regopstaan's Dream - Bushmen fight to live on ancestral land in South Africa.
18. Untouchable? - The caste system and bonded labor are still alive and well in India.
19. Because They're Worth It - Micro-credit, education, health information, and hope provided to impoverished Chinese.
20. For a Few Pennies More - Iodine deficiency causes health problems in Indonesia.
21. In the Name of Honour - Kurdish women fight for their rights in Northern Iraq.
22. God Among the Children - Community organization works with at-risk youth in Boston.
23. Without Rights - Palestinians are denied human rights.
24. Lost Generations - Poor health and poverty condemn people in India to sub-standard lives.
25. Educating Lucia - The odds are against girls getting an education in Zimbabwe and throughout much of Africa.
27. Bolivian Blues - Explores the success of new initiative to reduce widespread poverty.
28. The Outsiders - Explores the moral and economic dilemmas that adolescents face in the Ukraine today.
29. The Debt Police - Uganda seeks external debt relief and fights internal corruption.
30. The On-going Story - Final episode examines the international community's commitment to linking social and economic development with human rights.
NOTE: A second series called City Life is now available.
Grade Level: 7-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2000
Copyright Date: 2000
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-490-7
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-876-6
Reviews
"Eleven million children under age 5 die worldwide each year from preventable diseases, yet only a few nonfiction films take on child mortality and its solutions...A-OK? Shows efforts to widely distribute vitamin A capsules to improve children's health in Ghana and Guatemala." Sojourners Magazine
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