Côte d'Ivoire

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The Problem

  • In Côte d’Ivoire, more than 30% of children under five years of age are vitamin A deficient.
  • Micronutrient deficiencies are also a problem throughout the country, creating a need for food fortification programs.
  • Malnutrition poses a grave threat to infants infected with HIV/AIDS; it exacerbates the effects of the disease, which weakens the immune system, rendering infected persons more vulnerable to other infections. High-quality nutritional care and treatment are critical for children infected with HIV/AIDS.
  • Onchocerciasis control is a widespread challenge in Côte d’Ivoire. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that onchocerciasis interventions should achieve 100% geographic coverage and 65% therapeutic coverage.

What HKI Is Doing

Helen Keller International has been working in Côte d’Ivoire since 2000, beginning with its onchocerciasis control program. Current programs include:

Vitamin A Supplementation
Helen Keller International supports integrating vitamin A supplementation (VAS) into National Immunization Days (NIDs). HKI provides technical assistance to the National Nutrition Program (NNP) and strengthens the capacity of health workers. From 2006 to August 2007, the NNP and HKI organized the training of 14 district directors, 255 health workers and 255 community health workers about the use of vitamin A supplementation. With HKI’s support, in 2009, over 2,300,000 children under five (approximately 85% of the children in Côte d’Ivoire) received vitamin A capsules to help address the severe vitamin A deficiency problem in the country.

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Food Fortification
With support from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Helen Keller International is leading efforts to increase and diversify food fortification in Côte d’Ivoire in order to address micronutrient deficiencies. Currently, 60% of the cooking oil in Côte d’Ivoire is fortified with vitamin A; HKI’s goal is 100%. HKI is expanding its program to include fortifying wheat flour with iron and folic acid to avert anemia and other related deficiency diseases. HKI’s goal is to increase iron consumption of fortified wheat flour from 0% to 80%.

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Nutrition Programs for People Living with HIV/AIDS
Helen Keller International is helping to improve the nutritional status of HIV-positive women who are either pregnant or lactating and their families by providing nutrition education and counseling and distributing micronutrient supplements such as vitamin A, iron/folic acid and zinc, and promoting use of Sprinkles, powdered micronutrients added directly to food. Prevention Mother to Child Transmission (PMCT) sessions are provided in 8 health centers to counsel HIV-positive women during pregnancy, and provide information about anti-retro viral medications and nutrition options.

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Onchocerciasis Control
HKI supports onchocerciasis control interventions in 45 health districts in Côte d’Ivoire. Since 2000, HKI has provided 5,000 registers, 5,000 height gauges, 2,500 training manuals and 10,000 folders for communication and treatment to the National Onchocerciasis Program. Through Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI), HKI reinforces the capacities of communities to prevent and treat the disease by distributing ivermectin. Since the program utilizes community structures already in place, it has a high rate of compliance and success.

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