A Friendly Competition Helps Eliminate Trachoma

Group of people standing outside in a rural setting in front of a borehole and water tower with Helen Keller Intl logo on it.Hawa Sissoko is a housewife in Kéréko, a small village in Mali. She, like many of her neighbors, would have to walk more than 10 miles each way to have access to clean water. Without clean water, diseases like trachoma can run rampant, and serious illness[...]

Trachoma Eliminated as a Public Health Problem in Mali

Eyecare professional examining woman's eye for trachoma in outdoor rural setting.The World Health Organization announced the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Mali.  Though not the first country to eliminate trachoma, this milestone is particularly extraordinary due to the scale of the disease. A 1996 survey found[...]

Looking Bravely: Breastfeeding Education in Nepal

Group of women and children gathered indoors wearing vibrant traditional attire with eggs and health education visuals in the middle.We recently spoke with Nisha Sharma, a specialist in child feeding in Nepal. Since joining Helen Keller Intl in 2010, Nisha has conducted research about breastfeeding practices, the marketing of baby formula, and other issues with the dual goals of[...]

Taking Action to Combat Hunger 

Child is being measured with a colored mid-upper arm circumference tape to detect malnutrition.In just three years, the ravages of COVID-19 reversed decades of progress in the fight against malnutrition. Compounded by the damaging effects of climate change and armed conflicts, most notably in Ukraine, this crisis fuels increased threats of famine in[...]

Breaking the prevalence of poverty-related diseases in Cameroon

Two Helen Keller staff wearing vests speak with an elderly man with a swollen leg sitting on a stool outside a weathered rural house.When Helen Keller health workers visited Biaback Guiliagne’s home in a rural Cameroon village, he was surprised at first, but quickly warmed up when he realized the visitors could help relieve some of his pain. For more than 30 years, Biaback had been[...]