Helen Keller Intl

The problem

Vitamin A is important for the healthy development of children. It strengthens eyesight, prevents blindness and boosts the immune system so that children are strong enough to fight “normal” childhood illnesses such as colds, flu, malaria and diarrhea. For children who are not sufficiently supplied with vitamin A, these diseases can quickly become life-threatening. The Global Burden of Disease Project attributes over 200,000 deaths in children each year to vitamin A deficiency.^[1]

In countries like Germany, vitamin A is a completely natural part of the diet—for example, in carrots, milk, egg yolks, and leafy vegetables. For many families living in poverty around the world, however, this is not the case. Sometimes these foods are not available, and even more often, they are too expensive for these families. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 140 million children worldwide who are at risk of vitamin A deficiency have no access to vitamin A supplements and are therefore vulnerable to serious illnesses.^[2]

The solution

A single vitamin A capsule, administered to children twice a year during the first five years of their lives, can literally save their eyesight and their lives. And the total cost of a vitamin A capsule, its distribution, and the associated administrative costs is only about $1. Thus, a young child can be provided with vitamin A for about $2 per year, and the risk of premature death or blindness can be significantly reduced.^[3]

In particularly vulnerable countries in Africa and Asia, Helen Keller International supports governments in providing high-dose vitamin A capsules every six months to young children at risk of vitamin A deficiency, in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.^[4] In 2024, Helen Keller International distributed approximately 87 million vitamin A capsules.^[5]

Specifically, this is carried out by nurses or trained social workers visiting households where children between the ages of 6 and 59 months live and administering the contents of the capsules directly into the children’s mouths. Depending on the child’s age, the capsules contain the amount of vitamin A recommended by the WHO—between 100,000 and 200,000 international units. This is roughly 100 times the recommended daily dose for children, and the vitamin can be stored in the liver for several months.

The impact

Numerous studies have shown that infant mortality can be significantly reduced by vitamin A supplementation programs. A meta-study updated in 2022 summarized the results of 47 individual studies covering nineteen different countries and more than 1.2 million children. According to the study, the administration of vitamin A reduces the risk of infant mortality by 12%. In particular, mortality due to diarrhea and respiratory diseases as well as measles was significantly reduced.^[6] Accordingly, the study concludes that the administration of vitamin A is associated with a clinically significant reduction in morbidity and mortality in children.

In addition, GiveWell certifies that the aid organization Helen Keller Intl maintains high-quality ongoing monitoring of project activities and estimates that Helen Keller Intl can prevent one death from the effects of vitamin A deficiency for every $1,000–$8.500 (depending on the country).^[7]

The organization

Helen Keller Intl’s vitamin A supplement program has been listed by GiveWell as one of four current “Top Charities” since 2017. The organization was founded back in 1915 by the deaf-blind author Helen Keller and the entrepreneur George A. Kessler.

Helen Keller International is currently working in more than twenty countries to address the causes of blindness, visual impairment, and malnutrition. The organization’s total budget in 2024 was approximately $124 million. The nutrition division, which includes vitamin A supplementation programs, had an annual budget of approximately $58 million, which, among other things, made it possible to provide about 44 million children in 14 African countries with two vitamin A capsules.^[8]