Helen Keller International Signs MOU to Combat Malnutrition and Blindness in Zimbabwe

May 9, 2006 – Helen Keller International (HKI) and the government of Zimbabwe have agreed to partner in efforts to combat malnutrition and blindness in Zimbabwe. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOHCW), HKI is able to further its mission of improving the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in another country.

HKI’s focus in Zimbabwe, in partnership with the MOHCW, UNICEF and WHO, is to prevent vitamin A deficiency by distributing vitamin A capsules to those in need. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has long been recognized as the leading cause of preventable blindness and child mortality in developing countries. For as little as $1 per person, a twice-yearly distribution of high-dose vitamin-A capsules prevents blindness and improves a child’s chances for survival. Every year, between 250,000 and 500,000 children go blind from VAD. Seventy percent of these children die within one year of becoming blind. Supplements reduce child-mortality rates from measles by 50%, from diarrhea by 40%, and from all causes by 23%. Providing children with vitamin A supplements increase resistance to disease, combat blindness, and dramatically improve survival rates.

Recent analyses of population-based surveys in sub-Saharan Africa show that nearly half of all children are at risk of VAD. These same studies reveal that effective VAD-control can avert over 645,000 deaths per year.

In June of 2006, with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), HKI will support a vitamin A capsule distribution campaign in Zimbabwe as part of a scheduled integrated measles campaign. This campaign is an important step in combating vitamin A deficiency, which is “a problem of public health significance,” according to the 1999 Zimbabwe National Micronutrient Survey.