HELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL
RECEIVES $300,000 TSUNAMI RELIEF
GRANT FROM THE MICHAEL & SUSAN
DELL FOUNDATION
Grant Helps Supply
Micronutrients to Indonesian
Tsunami Survivors to Fight
Water-borne Diseases
New York, April 28, 2005 – Helen
Keller International (HKI) received
a $300,000 grant from the Michael & Susan
Dell Foundation (MSDF) for its
project, “Tsunami Relief
Through Micronutrient Supplementation
in Indonesia.” The
12-month project strives to safeguard
the health of approximately 250,000
children and 200,000 households
affected by the 2004 tsunami by
providing vitamin and mineral supplements.
This new grant will enable HKI
to reduce morbidity and mortality
among Internally Displaced People
(IDPs) by assessing the population
conditions and by providing vitamin
A capsules and zinc treatments,
along with multivitamin and mineral
supplements to complement food
aid. While some of these
IDPs are staying with relatives
or friends, many of them are living
in shelters of varying standards
and are in need of shelter, food,
clothes, medical aid and other
assistance.
“The Micronutrient Supplementation
Program addresses an essential
need of tsunami survivors to help
them improve their health and move
forward with their lives,” said
Janet Mountain, executive director
of the Michael & Susan Dell
Foundation. “Through
the Foundation’s support
of Helen Keller International,
we hope to significantly reduce
the mortality risk for children
and adults in Indonesia and mitigate
the ongoing impact from the tsunami.”
The World Health Organization
(WHO), United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), and other agencies
leading the tsunami disaster relief
efforts have warned that the most
immediate threat facing survivors
is the spread of water-borne and
infectious diseases. Scientific
research has shown that vitamins
and minerals play a critical role
in the human immune system response
to disease. Micronutrients
such as zinc effectively reduce
the duration and severity of diarrhea,
while high-dose vitamin A capsules
can reduce mortality from measles,
diarrhea and other causes by 23
to 50 percent. HKI has already
enabled distribution of 600,000
vitamin A capsules and 123,000
zinc tablets to tsunami survivors.
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that
struck on the morning of December
26, 2004 triggered massive tsunamis
that left 100,000 people dead in
Indonesia alone, the country hit
worst by the disaster. In
the Indonesian province of Aceh,
one million people, which is a
quarter of its population, have
been displaced, including 250,000
children younger than 12 years.
The grant is part of the Michael & Susan
Dell Foundation’s initial
$3 million pledge announced in
December 2004 toward tsunami relief
efforts in southern Asia to help
provide support to the victims
and contributes to the Foundation’s
mission to have a positive and
measurable impact on the lives
of children around the world.
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