Helen Keller International: Reducing Malnutrition Worldwide

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Helen Keller International

• Reducing Malnutrition Worldwide

July 2010
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The Devastating Effects of Malnutrition

• Malnutrition affects nearly 1 billion people in
  the developing world today.
• It is the single biggest contributor to child
  mortality, causing an estimated 40 of child
  deaths worldwide.
• Hundreds of thousands of children go blind and
  die each year due to inadequate amounts of
  vitamin A in their diets
• and deficiencies in other essential nutrients
  can negatively impact the health, growth and
  survival of children.

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Nearly 10,000 Children Under 5 Die Every Day
Because of Malnutrition
HKI/Wendy Lee
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Helen Keller International Providing Solutions
to Reduce Malnutrition

• At Helen Keller International, we are dedicated
  to reducing malnutrition by
• Providing low-cost vitamin supplements to
  millions of the worlds most vulnerable people,
  and
• Working with communities and local partners to
  make simple changes in food production and
  consumption.
• Our efforts result in saving the sight and lives
  of millions of people worldwide each year.

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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Vitamin A
Supplementation

• Helen Keller Internationals Vitamin A
  Supplementation program has helped reverse the
  devastation caused by vitamin A deficiency.
• Last year alone, we helped save the sight and
  lives of children in 18 countries in Africa and
  Asia by providing over 76 million vitamin A
  capsules at a cost of just 1.00 per child per
  year.

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We Distributed More than 76 Million Vitamin A
Capsules to Children in Africa and Asia Last Year
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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Homestead Food
Production

• Our Homestead Food Production program creates
  nutritional self-sufficiency through the
  establishment of thousands of home gardens that
  provide year-round supplies of micronutrient-rich
  foods and small farms for raising poultry and
  livestock.
• Tended by women, the gardens cost just 9.00 per
  garden to start. Each garden can feed up to 40
  people and provide extra income from selling
  surplus food at local markets.

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Homestead Food Production Helps Create
Nutritional Self-Sufficiency
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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Food Fortification

• HKIs Food Fortification programs provide
  communities and families with more nutritious,
  fortified foods, enabling people to lead
  healthier, longer lives.
• We collaborate with partners on large-scale
  efforts to fortify widely-used ingredients such
  as flour and cooking oils with essential vitamins
  and minerals.

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HKIs Food Fortification Program Helps Save Lives
HKI/Wendy Lee
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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Orange-Fleshed
Sweetpotatoes

• HKI works in developing countries to promote
  crops which have higher nutritional value.
• We collaborate with agriculture research
  organizations to grow orange-fleshed
  sweetpotatoes, that have more vitamin A than the
  traditionally grown white-fleshed varieties.
• HKI and local partners use social marketing
  campaigns to encourage acceptance and consumption
  of these new plant varieties, resulting in
  improved vitamin A intake among targeted
  populations.

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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Orange-Fleshed
Sweetpotatoes

• The orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes thrive in
  different growing conditions and produce a high
  crop yield so producers like them. They taste
  good and are versatile so consumers like them
  too.
• Just 125 grams of an orange-fleshed sweetpotato
  provides primary school children with over twice
  the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A.

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HKI Helps Develop Nutritious Orange-Fleshed
Sweetpotatoes
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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Managing Acute
Malnutrition

• HKI applies the Community-based Management of
  Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) approach when treating
  at-risk populations.
• CMAM enables communities and health facilities to
  treat the majority of cases and reserves
  in-patient care for only those with critical
  complications.
• Children with appetites receive outpatient care
  from caretakers who are provided with
  Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Foods, such as
  PlumpyNut
• Reducing the number of cases required to be
  treated at in-patient facilities also reduces the
  likeliness of infection and the social and
  financial burden to most families.

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Simple, Low-Cost Solutions Essential Nutrition
Actions

• HKI implements the Essential Nutrition Actions
  (ENA) framework to address the devastating
  effects of maternal and child malnutrition.
• The ENA framework delivers an integrated package
  of cost-effective nutrition actions that can
  reduce maternal and child undernutrition and
  death.
• HKI teaches health and community agents how to
  counsel and work with families so that they adopt
  optimal behaviors, including, among others,
  vitamin A supplementation, breastfeeding,
  nutritional care for sick children, anemia
  control, womens nutrition, and the use of
  iodized salt.

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Help Helen Keller International Save Sight
Lives Donate Today!
HKI/Carol Stein