Issue 3 2008 > Charity in Motion
Charity in Motion
Operation 20/20
A young child in India receiving
vitamins from Howard Schiffer,
President and Founder of
Vitamin Angels
In developing countries, more than 125 million preschoolers and 85 million school-age children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, putting them at risk of malnutrition, other illnesses and even death. Without sufficient vitamin A in their daily diet, up to 500,000 of these children go blind every year.
Vitamin Angels is committed to eradicating childhood blindness due to Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) on the planet by the year 2020. Through a partnership called "Operation 20/20," 7.1 million children, across 17 developing countries, who are at risk of malnutrition and childhood blindness, will receive critical vitamin A supplements and antiparasitic medicines.
Such an endeavour requires much more than just the donation of vitamin A and antiparasitics. In fact, it would be fair to say that arranging the logistics to get the products to the children is one of the greatest challenges. The medicine has to be sorted, stored, transported overseas and delivered to the children in need.
In partnership with Save the Children, indigenous health care providers, Ministries of Health and Education, and other NGOs, staff members from Crown Relocations have been volunteering their time to assist with the transportation and logistics. They have been helping to reach children through schools and health facilities in the Pacific Region, South and Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
“The delivery and logistics has proven to be one of the greatest challenges for Operation 20/20,” says Ken Krzeminski of Crown Chicago, who has served as the central coordinator for this initiative. “Crown Chicago, Rotterdam and Toronto have all been involved in sorting and storing the products, as well as transporting them to children in need around the world.”
Vitamin Angels and Save the Children are now happy to announce that the first shipment of vitamins has been completed. They were delivered to Save the Children country offices in Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Sudan, Uganda, Nepal, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bolivia, El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua. Many of the distributions to the children are already taking place.
In addition to blindness, studies show that parasitic infections in children can prevent adequate absorption of essential nutrients, including vitamin A. Hundreds of millions of children in developing countries suffer from parasitic infections, including 320 million children with roundworm; 233 million with whipworm and 239 million with hookworm–all of which can be treated with a single deworming pill. Eliminating parasitic infections has also proven to help prevent anemia, malnutrition and slowed mental and physical development in children.
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change for children in need around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilizing rapid lifesaving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. For more information or to make a donation to Save the Children, visit their website at www.savethechildren.org.
Vitamin Angels is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to providing basic nutrition and fighting vitamin A deficiency childhood blindness around the world since 1994. For more information or to make a donation to Vitamin Angels, visit their website at www.vitaminangels.org.