Helen Keller International Awarded c$20 Million to Combat Vitamin A Deficiency and Child Mortality

(I-Newswire) February 11, 2010 - The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has awarded Helen Keller International (HKI) C$20 million to help reduce child death rates in sub-Saharan Africa through the delivery of low-cost, high-impact child survival interventions, specifically vitamin A supplementation. Thanks to this grant, an additional 63 million vitamin A capsules can be delivered to children in need, saving countless lives.

* Nearly half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of vitamin A deficiency.

* Every year, up to 500,000 children go blind due to the lack of this simple vitamin in their diet and 70 percent of these children die within one year of going blind.

* Providing adequate vitamin A not only helps in preventing blindness but also reduces overall child mortality by 23-34% because it strengthens the immune system and increases resistance to diseases.

* Vitamin A deficiency can be prevented by providing two vitamin A capsules per child per year, at a cost of only about $1. Vitamin A supplementation has been recognized as the single most cost-effective intervention available for saving the sight and lives of children today.

The CIDA grant supports HKI’s leading-edge program to deliver vitamin A supplementation and other essential health and nutrition services in 12 African countries. The program aims to accelerate progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. The Government of Canada is the largest donor of vitamin A, financing approximately 75% of the vitamin A capsules provided to developing countries. UNICEF estimates that over 2 million lives have been saved due to vitamin A supplementation.

* Targeting At-Risk Children: Helen Keller International works closely with key international development agencies, including UNICEF and the Micronutrient Initiative, as well as with local governments and NGOs to ensure that at least 90% of children less than 5 years old in targeted areas receive vitamin A supplementation.

* Improving Child Health And Nutrition: HKI also offers other key child health and nutrition interventions including training health workers, and providing immunizations, insecticide-treated bed nets, antibiotics and de-worming treatments.

* Ensuring Sustainability: HKI promotes national ownership of Vitamin A Supplementation and other child survival interventions so that they are integrated into countries' health and nutrition strategies.

HKI’s Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, Shawn Baker said, “We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the CIDA in their support for this key child survival program. Vitamin A supplementation is such a simple, cost-effective solution to saving the sight and lives of the world’s disadvantaged; we applaud CIDA’s commitment to this program.”

Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International's (HKI) mission is to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. HKI combats the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research in vision, health and nutrition. The organization is known for sustainability, reliability, efficiency, and the highest level of technical expertise in preventing blindness and reducing malnutrition. HKI is headquartered in New York City, and has programs in 21 countries in Africa and Asia as well as in the United States, addressing malnutrition (including vitamin A deficiency), cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and refractive error. HKI receives support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and other national and local governments as well as from private and corporate foundations and individuals.

For more information, visit www.hki.org or email us at info@hki.org.

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Helen Keller International