Championing Prenatal Vitamins in Sierra Leone
For nearly 10 years, Boncapri Sesay has served as a peer educator, providing counseling and guidance to pregnant and breastfeeding women in her own community. Regularly hosting a group that meets under a mango tree in her rural village in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province, she is keen to share her knowledge about the special health […]
Associated Press Highlights Fortified Bouillon to Fight Malnutrition in West Africa
Augustine Okoruwa, Regional Program Manager for Food Fortification, recently spoke to the Associated Press about the impacts of the climate crisis on malnutrition in West Africa and how fortified bouillon cubes can help people add essential nutrients to their diets. “Farmlands are destroyed, you have a shortage of food, the system is strained, leading to […]
Speaking Technically: How the Climate Crisis is Driving a Nutrition Crisis
We recently spoke to Chief Program Officer Shawn Baker and Transforming Lives Program Director Philomena Orji about how the climate crisis is driving a nutrition crisis worldwide. Shawn leads Helen Keller’s efforts to strengthen food and health systems using scientifically proven solutions that are feasible, scalable, and equitable. Previously Helen Keller’s Country Director for Nigeria, […]
Climate-Smart Agriculture Supports a Community
Although Maliatou Nignan and her family had been farming for years, they still struggled to grow enough food to feed themselves or earn an income. As Maliatou says, they “worked hard on arid lands” in their community of Zoro in southern Burkina Faso. “We cultivated vegetables and white-fleshed sweet potatoes, but the yields were below our […]
Speaking Technically: Improving Support for Breastfeeding Mothers in Cambodia
We recently spoke to Chum Senveasna, Program Manager for Helen Keller Intl in Cambodia. Senveasna has supported our work on nutrition since 2016. He’s now leading our efforts to support breastfeeding mothers and improve nutrition for women and children across the country. What are the current recommendations for breastfeeding? Global health bodies including the World Health Organization have […]
The Road to Nutrition for Growth
All eyes are on Paris as the world prepares to open the 2024 Olympic Games, a symbol of health, strength, and human potential. France is also preparing to host another global moment: The Nutrition for Growth Summit. This global pledging moment, first held following the 2012 London Olympics, brings together world leaders in governments, philanthropy, […]
Protecting a Community from Onchocerciasis with Preventive Medication
When Patrice Messolo was a boy, his grandfather and uncle became very sick. They both lost their vision and developed skin lesions on their legs due to what Patrice would later learn was onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. Without treatment, this neglected tropical disease can cause disfiguring skin conditions and permanent blindness. Seeing what […]
Good Nutrition Starts with Moms
Nearly half of all child deaths are attributed to malnutrition – more than AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and COVID-19 combined. What many don’t realize, however, is that malnutrition often starts in the womb. In fact, every year, maternal malnutrition leads to an estimated 800,000 deaths among newborns. Ensuring Healthy Starts for Children The first 1,000 days of […]
Speaking Technically: Dr. Al Sommer on the Surprising Discovery of Vitamin A
In the 1970s, experts from Helen Keller Intl spearheaded research on vitamin A that has helped save millions of lives and shaped the organization’s work for decades. Dr. Al Sommer, now Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, led one of the studies that resulted in a groundbreaking discovery […]
Global Relief Society Women Lead Worldwide Initiative to Support Communities in Alleviating Child Malnutrition and Enhancing Maternal Health
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joins with eight leading nonprofit organizations to improve maternal and child health worldwide. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 12, 2024 – Today, the Relief Society General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announces the expansion of the Church’s global efforts […]
