Helen Keller International Receives
$1.5 million USAID Grant for Child
Survival
New York, May 10, 2005 – Helen
Keller International (HKI) has
received a $1.5 million grant from
the Child Survival and Health Grants
Program, which is administered
by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The
grant supports a four-year integrated
program to improve nutrition, called
Nutrition+, to be implemented in
the Koulikoro Region of Mali, a
densely populated area with few
resources to benefit the population. With
Nutrition+, HKI will introduce
a state-of-the-art package of nutrition
interventions focusing on the most
critical period for mother and
child survival and development:
pregnancy through the first two
years of life.
Despite recent gains in democratization,
governance, and economic growth,
Mali has the 7th highest under-five
child mortality rate in the world,
and nearly 70% of these deaths
occur in children younger than
two years of age. As in other
West African countries, malaria,
acute respiratory infection, diarrhea,
and vaccine-preventable diseases
like measles and tetanus are the
leading direct causes of child
mortality in Mali. However,
51% of mortality is attributable
to malnutrition, meaning that if
these children had been adequately
nourished, they would have survived. Micronutrient
deficiencies are rampant, and health
statistics in the Koulikoro Region
are even more alarming than the
national statistics. Whereas
88% of Malian children aged six
to 59 months are anemic, 92% are
anemic in Koulikoro, with iron
deficiency as the main cause. Likewise,
63% of women of reproductive age
are anemic nationwide, and 68%
in Koulikoro.
Beginning in October 2005, Nutrition+
will target malnutrition as the
primary underlying cause of child
mortality. Efforts to improve
nutritional status will consequently
decrease the morbidity and mortality
of infants, children under two,
and women of reproductive age in
the Koulikoro Region. The
package incorporates nutrition,
breastfeeding, control of diarrheal
disease, control of anemia, malaria
control, and complements other
interventions such as family planning,
child spacing, and immunizations. Working
primarily with community health
centers and associations, HKI seeks
to assess the delivery of essential
nutrition services and the accessibility,
availability, and quality of facility-based
services while promoting community
mobilization and behavior change
communication. To reach these
goals, HKI will also utilize its
existing rural radio project to
develop broadcasts about optimal
nutrition-related behaviors.
HKI has previously worked in four
of the nine health districts in
the Koulikoro Region. This
most recent grant will enable HKI
to expand to the entire region,
reaching 85% of the population,
or 452,000 people, each year.
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