Vitamin A protects Cramyrell’s sight

My story

Cramyrell is from the Philippines, where blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency is common.

Vitamin A deficiency is globally, the leading cause of avoidable blindness in children. In countries like the Philippines where poverty is widespread, children often fail to receive enough vitamin A in their diet. An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 vitamin A deficient children become blind every year, and 70% of them die within a year of losing their sight.

Not only does vitamin A deficiency cause blindness, it also increases the risk of disease and death from common childhood infections such as diarrhoea and measles.

How we helped
Cramyrell was given a simple supplement which could be vital in saving him from blindness and disease caused by vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin A supplementation is proven as one of the most simple and cost-efficient health interventions available today.

Cramyrell was given his first vitamin A supplement as a baby by Governor Diasen from the province of Kalinga. He is one of 30,000 children treated at this site as part of the Garantisadong Pambata campaign run by Helen Keller International. The campaign aims to provide 90% of children under the age of six with vitamin A.

To find out more about preventing vitamin A deficiency, take a look at our work in the Philippines.

To help protect the sight of more children like Cramyrell, please donate.