New York Times' Nick Kristof Champions Helen Keller's Disease Prevention Work

In a column for The New York Times, opinion writer Nick Kristof once again championed Helen Keller’s work to prevent and treat neglected tropical diseases in West Africa.

Earlier this summer, Nick traveled to Sierra Leone to see our programs in action, assess the impact of recent US government funding cuts, and speak directly with community health heroes on the front lines. Nick details his visit in his latest column:

“In June in Sierra Leone, I visited a warehouse full of millions of doses of donated medicines meant to prevent river blindness, schistosomiasis and intestinal parasites. The United States had backed out of a commitment to distribute the medicines, so they were stuck in a locked compound — with some expiring this month.

After a heroic fund-raising effort by some of my readers and by Helen Keller Intl, it looks as if at least some of the drugs will be distributed before they expire. (I have the best readers!) But more funds are still needed for the distribution effort in Sierra Leone and elsewhere.”

Helen Keller works alongside partner governments and hundreds of thousands of community health workers to treat and prevent neglected tropical diseases. These efforts have yielded remarkable results. In 2023, Mali celebrated the elimination of blinding trachoma as a public health problem, and in January 2025, Niger became the first country in Africa to eliminate onchocerciasis.

However, progress was halted earlier this year when the US government decided to cut funding for the long-running, highly effective program. 

Thanks to our generous community of supporters, some of our work providing preventative medication will soon resume, but controlling and eliminating these diseases requires ongoing, long-term investments. Without sustained access to these critical treatments, an estimated 100 million people in the countries we serve remain at risk.

Read the full article in The New York Times.

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