Multivitamin gummies will contribute to nutritionally intervening with students in the public system.
Santo Domingo.– The National Institute of Student Welfare (INABIE) announced that it will implement a pilot project of supplementation with multivitamin gummies, to nutritionally intervene with some 70,000 students.
The initiative seeks to reduce the gap in priority micronutrients in schoolchildren aged 3 to 19 years old in the public education system.
Furthermore, INABIE invited the national pharmaceutical industry, nutrition specialists, and healthcare sector actors to submit technical observations to strengthen the project’s design and execution, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and quality.
The project will complement the School Feeding Program (PAE), which currently guarantees daily food to almost 2 million students in more than 7,000 educational centers in the country.
The National Micronutrient Survey conducted in 2024 reports that anemia affects 24.2% of children under 6 years of age and 17.0% of schoolchildren aged 6 to 18 years, which constitutes a relevant public health problem. The technical analysis confirms that, even adding the contributions of the PAE, there are gaps in zinc, vitamins A, B6 and E.
INABIE’s director of health and nutrition, Luis Lizardo, stated that the introduction of a gummy supplement adapted to the school context will allow to close those gaps.
The pilot will be implemented
in 6 educational regions, prioritized by malnutrition indicators, with 70,000 students receiving a gummy three times a week during the school year (144 units per student).
The delivery will be supervised through a distribution record and monitoring of adverse events. Evaluations will be carried out at 6 and 12 months to measure impact on hemoglobin, other markers, and acceptance of the supplement.
Acquisition and transparency process
The institute detailed that the process of purchasing the supplement is currently being carried out in accordance with the new Law 47-25 on Public Procurement, guaranteeing transparency, competition among bidders, and the responsible use of State resources.
For project planning, a total estimated price of 151,200,000 pesos was established and a maximum reference ceiling of 18 pesos per unit, calculated from market references that include quality, nutritional requirements, health standards, and logistics costs.
The final price will be determined by the competition between bidders, being awarded to the supplier that meets the technical requirements and presents the best economic conditions.
The process is open to the participation of all bidders who meet the established technical specifications.
Interested parties can consult the terms and conditions, technical specifications, and all documentation related to the process, under the reference INABIE-CCC-LPN-2026-0002, in the Electronic System of Public Contracting (SECP), administered by the General Directorate of Public Contracting.
