New York Times’ Editorial Champions Helen Keller’s Cost-Effective, Life-saving Health Interventions

In a column for The New York Times, opinion writer Nick Kristof once again championed Helen Keller’s work, this time pointing to the cost-effectiveness of vitamin A supplementation. Nick’s editorial scrutinizes the very high cost of military spending and asks what those resources could achieve if invested elsewhere. Here is an excerpt:

“For $380 million, less than five hours of war, we could provide vitamin A supplementation for the 190 million children who need it. Helen Keller Intl, a nonprofit engaged in this work, says this would prevent up to 480,000 child deaths each year and virtually eliminate blindness from vitamin A deficiency.”

Vitamin A is critical to children’s growing bodies and brains, strengthening their vision, preventing blindness, and bolstering the immune system. Last year, we reached more than 47 million children under the age of five in Africa with two doses of vitamin A. This simple twice-yearly dose can reduce childhood mortality by more than 25% – and it costs just over $1 per dose.

It’s one of a suite of proven, cost-effective interventions Helen Keller champions across nearly 20 countries in Asia and Africa. Together, we can do so much to improve the health and well-being of the world’s most vulnerable children and families.

• For $75, we can provide treatment for 100 people in communities affected by debilitating neglected tropical diseases and reopen doors to education and economic opportunity. 
• For $185, we can fund a cataract surgery that makes it possible for a grandmother to see her grandchildren for the first time.   
• For $350, we can provide a child suffering from severe acute malnutrition with a full course of lifesaving treatment.

With your ongoing support, we will continue to reach millions of children and families with vital services that support good health and prevent debilitating diseases. 

Read the article here: The $1.3-Million-a-Minute War

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