Resize Text
Helen Keller International
The mission of Helen Keller International (HKI) is to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. We combat the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research in vision, health and nutrition. HKI’s programs address malnutrition, cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis and refractive error.
Founded in 1915, with Helen Keller as a founding trustee, the initial purpose of the agency was to provide rehabilitation services to soldiers blinded during the war. In the 1970s, the agency shifted its focus to blindness prevention, with an emphasis on childhood blindness, the principal cause of which was, and remains, Vitamin A deficiency (VAD). HKI’s VAD control program to combat childhood blindness with the government of Indonesia and Johns Hopkins University was the basis for groundbreaking research that led to the recognition of VAD as not just the leading cause of pediatric blindness, but a major contributor to mortality for children under-five. HKI’s expertise in Vitamin A led to development of an overall micronutrient capacity resulting in HKI’s two program pillars: nutrition and eye health, with a proven ability to build synergies between the two.
HKI develops technical and operational capacities of local governmental, non-governmental, private sector and community-based partners to increase the scope of effective health interventions and to advocate for policy change at the regional, national and international levels. HKI works to establish sustainable delivery of the interventions within partner and community structures, and works continuously with local ministries of health to research new methods of intervention. HKI has demonstrated the capacity to leverage operations research and small-scale program models into national-scale programs.
Project Summary:
Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD)
Helen Keller International (HKI) is a recognized leader in advancing the right of children to survival, nutrition and health – and has placed integrated control of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) at the center of these efforts.
For decades, VAD has been recognized as the leading cause of preventable pediatric blindness in developing countries. Childhood blindness is a priority because blind children have a lifetime of blindness ahead of them and blindness in children is thought to be responsible for about one third of the total economic cost of blindness. 127 million preschool children and seven million pregnant women in the developing world suffer from VAD. Every year, between 250,000 and 500,000 children go blind from VAD, 70% of whom will die within one year of becoming blind.
The goal of the three-year Seeing is Believing project is to prevent VAD-associated blindness and mortality by ensuring high and sustained Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) coverage, twice-yearly, for children 0-59 months in seven project countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
These countries were selected based on:
- high under-five mortality rates;
- high VAD rates;
- high malnutrition rates;
- unmet needs for VAS program support; and
- the capacity to implement VAS programs. HKI will develop and implement country-specific approaches that will promote national ownership and create a VAS strategy that is effective and sustainable.
The countries selected in Asia already provide VAS for children 6-59 months. However, all countries have large groups of children, 20-30% of the total population, that are not reached by the national programs. Literature and data analysis show that these children are actually most in need, as they are usually poor, have limited or no access to health facilities, and higher morbidity than those who do receive VAS. All countries in this region have also experienced civil unrest and rebellions recently, which has disrupted progress and access. Nigeria and Sierra Leone were selected due to their high need and population density; in addition, Sierra Leone is just emerging from a long civil war.
In the target areas, the project aims to achieve and sustain more than 80% VAS coverage for children 6-59 months of age every six months, to ensure that all children presenting with risk factors at health facilities are treated with VAS, and to use VAS as a platform for an integrated package of low-cost, high impact, setting-specific child survival interventions. The goal is to provide 1.22 million children with Vitamin A each year for three years.
HKI will be the primary manager of the projects, ensuring implementation of all activities. In all countries, partnerships with government health staff and community volunteers or local NGOs will be formed for implementation at the community level. The government and community-level workers will actually provide the capsules to the children, with support from HKI and the Ministry of Health (MOH.) HKI will also collaborate with other agencies involved in VAS, such as UNICEF and WHO, in order to ensure that resources are not duplicated and efforts are coordinated throughout each of the seven countries.
