Vitamin A is very important for a child's normal development: it strengthens eyesight, prevents blindness and supports the immune system in fighting diseases that threaten children, such as measles, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. When a child's body doesn't get enough vitamin A, these diseases can be very dangerous. According to Helen Keller Intl, nearly one in three children under five worldwide doesn't get enough vitamin A.
In many countries people get enough vitamin A from their food, so separate supplements aren't needed. But for many families living in poverty around the world, foods rich in vitamin A are not part of their usual diet, because access to food in general, and to vitamin A-rich food in particular, is poor.
According to Helen Keller Intl, giving vitamin A supplements twice a year to children aged 6 months to 5 years can reduce child mortality by more than a quarter and help prevent blindness. GiveWell's more cautious estimate, for the countries where it funds the programme today, is a reduction of about 4 to 12%.
One vitamin A capsule, given to children twice a year during their first five years of life, can save their sight and their lives for just over 1 dollar per dose. According to Helen Keller Intl, it distributed more than 94 million vitamin A capsules in 2025.
Helen Keller Intl:
Helen Keller Intl is among the most effective charities recommended by the independent charity evaluator GiveWell. Vitamin A supplementation has a strong evidence base, but GiveWell is less certain about it than about its other top charities. Most of the trials took place in the 1980s and 1990s, when child health was much worse than it is today, and one very large later trial found only a small effect.
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