The Chief Medical Officers have issued a communication to healthcare professionals to increase awareness of the risk of vitamin D deficiency in some of the UK population, particularly at-risk groups such as pregnant women and infants and young children.

In 2011, the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, wrote to health professionals in Scotland on this topic. This letter is a restatement of this advice and contains important information about prescribing and recommending vitamin D supplements to those groups of the population at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

The UK Health Departments recommend that:

• All pregnant and breastfeeding women should take a daily supplement containing 10micrograms of vitamin D, to ensure the mother’s requirements for vitamin D are met and to build adequate foetal stores for early infancy.

• All infants and young children aged 6 months to 5 years should take a daily supplement containing vitamin D in the form of vitamin drops, to help them meet the requirement set for this age group of 7 to 8.5 micrograms of vitamin D per day. However, those infants who are fed infant formula will not need vitamin drops until they are receiving less than 500ml of infant formula a day, as these products are fortified with vitamin D. Breastfed infants may need to receive drops containing vitamin D from one month of age if their mother has not taken vitamin D supplements throughout pregnancy.

• People aged 65 years and over and people who are not exposed to much sun should also take a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D.

Women and children from families who are eligible for the Government’s Healthy Start scheme can get free vitamin supplements which include vitamin D, in the form of tablets for women and drops for children. It is the statutory responsibility of PCTs, the local trust or Health Board to make Healthy Start vitamins available locally to women and children on the scheme. Health professionals should familiarise themselves with local distribution arrangements for Healthy Start vitamins.

The Communication also states that “NHS organisations can choose to sell the vitamins or supply them free of charge to those who are not eligible for Healthy Start, and we encourage this.”