HKI Honors Canadian International Development Agency For Global Support of Vitamin A Supplementation Programs

New York, NY, November 29, 2006 –Helen Keller International (HKI) honored the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with the inaugural presentation of its International Development Award at a reception on November 29.  The award was given in recognition of CIDA’s global leadership in vitamin A supplementation for child survival, as the funder of the vast majority of the world’s supply of vitamin A capsules. Deborah Robert, ABC News correspondents, presented the award to Bruce Montador, Vice President of CIDA’s Multilateral Programs Branch at Helen Keller International’s Annual Leadership Reception at the Century Club in New York City.

The award was established to recognize the commitment of governments and institutions to achieving solutions for sight and survival for vulnerable populations. “The Canadian Government, through the Canadian International Development Agency, has played a pivotal role in scaling up vitamin A programs, particularly vitamin A supplementation,” says Sue Mather, HKI Senior Vice President, Development and Communications. “CIDA’s support to organizations such as UNICEF, the Micronutrient Initiative and Helen Keller International has enabled the distribution of millions of vitamin A capsules per year,” she says, “resulting in saving hundreds of thousands of children’s lives throughout the world.”

Over the last 25 years, combating vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has emerged as one of the most cost-effective interventions to save the sight and lives of children. Helen Keller International has been at the forefront of developing programs to combat VAD, including the distribution of vitamin A capsules across the globe, which the World Bank and other global health experts now recognize as the single most cost-effective health intervention. It takes only two doses a year of vitamin A capsules to save a child’s life and prevent blindness at a cost of approximately $1.

Epidemiological evidence from countries throughout the world has conclusively demonstrated that in vitamin A deficient populations, vitamin A supplementation reduces child mortality by between 23 and 34 percent. The Canadian International Development Agency’s global contribution to vitamin A programs between 2003 and 2006 is approximately CA$95M (US$78M), with approximately 75 percent earmarked specifically for vitamin A supplementation in Africa. Helen Keller International is currently implementing vitamin A supplementation programs in 13 countries in Africa that receive support from CIDA (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe).

“Making sure that children in poor countries have sufficient vitamin A is one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives and prevent blindness. And if we integrate vitamin A supplementation into other health initiatives, such as providing insecticide-treated bed nets, or immunization programs—as we often do—we can do even more to improve the health and well-being of children,” said Minister Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages. “We are proud to support Helen Keller International in this important work that is saving millions of young lives.”

An estimated 127 million children in the developing world lack sufficient vitamin A in their diet. And each year, between 250,000 and 500,000 children go blind from a lack of vitamin A in their diets. Some 70 percent of these children die within one year of becoming blind.

HKI’s Annual Leadership Reception is hosted by the Board of Trustees of Helen Keller International, L. Bradford Perkins, Chair. The new Helen Keller International Development Award was instituted as part of HKI’s Centennial Countdown, the 10-year period leading up to the agency’s Centennial Celebration in 2015. During this time, HKI will be launching communications initiatives to focus the attention of the global community on the work of HKI and its government and foundation partners.

HKI President Kathy Spahn, HKI Board Chairman Brad Perkins, ABC Correspondent Deborah Roberts, and Vice President of CIDA’s Multilateral Programs Branch Bruce Montador