Helen Keller International: Preventing Blindness in Africa

1
Helen Keller International

• Preventing Blindness in Africa

February 2010
2
About Vitamin A Deficiency

• Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is the leading cause
  of blindness in children in the world today.
• The World Health Organization estimates that as
  many as 140 million children, especially in
  Africa and Southeast Asia, suffer from VAD.
• Each year, up to 500,000 children, or up to 60
  per hour, go blind because of vitamin A
  deficiency.
• Tragically, 70 of these children die within a
  year of losing their sight.

3
Up to 500,000 Children Go Blind Each Year Because
Of Vitamin A Deficiency
4
The Challenge in Africa

• As many as half of the children in African
  countries suffer from vitamin A deficiency.
• In Sierra Leone, for example, nearly 3 out of 10
  children do not live to see their 5th birthday.
• The challenge how to reverse the devastation
  caused by blindness and malnutrition.

5
As Many as Half The Children in African Countries
Suffer From Vitamin A Deficiency
HKI/Wendy Lee
6
Helen Keller International Providing Solutions
to VAD in Africa

• Just two doses of high-potency vitamin A capsules
  are needed each year to prevent blindness in
  at-risk children, at a cost of just 1.00 per
  child per year.
• Helen Keller Internationals goal is to ensure
  that the capsules reach those most in need.
• We work with local partners to distribute vitamin
  A capsules twice a year to children under five.

7
How Helen Keller International Prevents Vitamin A
Deficiency

• Vitamin A not only saves sight, it also saves
  lives by helping the immune system fight illness.
• More than 41 million African children benefitted
  from our vitamin A supplementation programs last
  year.

8
More than 41 million African children benefitted
from our programs last year
9
About Onchocerciasis

• Onchocerciasis, is the worlds second-leading
  infectious cause of blindness, afflicting 18
  million people, mostly in Africa.
• Also known as river blindness, onchocerciasis is
  caused by parasitic worms that are transmitted
  through the bite of the black fly.
• In Africa, 37 million people are infected with
  onchocerciasis and 89 million are at risk of
  infection.

10
In Africa, 37 Million People Are Infected with
Onchocerciasis
HKI
11
How Helen Keller International Helps Control
Onchocerciasis

• An annual dose of the drug Mectizan
  (ivermectin), generously donated by Merck Co.,
  Inc., prevents symptoms for one year.
• In order to eliminate onchocerciasis as a public
  health problem, the drug must be given to
  community members for 15-20 years, the life cycle
  of the worms.

12
How Helen Keller International Helps Control
Onchocerciasis

• Helen Keller International trains and mobilizes
  vast networks of community volunteers to get
  Mectizan to the people who need it.
• Thanks to our efforts and these hardworking
  volunteers, onchocerciasis is on its way to being
  eliminated in Africa!

13
Working with local volunteers, we are eliminating
onchocerciasis in Africa!
HKI
14
Help Helen Keller International Save Sight
Lives in Africa Donate Today!
HKI/Video for Good