Friday, August 26, 2011

Vitamin A campaigns

Hi all,

I just double-checked my math with one of my colleagues, and so I'll share this with you:

A new article just came out that looked at all the evidence behind doing Vitamin A campaigns in places like Pestel  The results confirmed prior studies.  Well done research.

The article confirmed that by providing twice yearly Vitamin A (as we have been doing in Pestel since early 2010) we reduce child deaths (ages 6 months to 5 years) by 24%.   

I did the math this morning
That means through just the Vitamin A campaigns 180 children's lives are saved each year in Pestel!!!


And can you guess the cost to save each of those children's lives?    

$200 per life saved

That means, we spent $35,000 last year on the child campaigns.  And we did more than just provide Vitamin A with that money.  But if you divide 35,000 / 180  = $200.

Take-home:  we got fantastic bang-for-the-buck.  

And there are a lot more benefits to a lot more kids beyond even this.  Consider the # of kids who will retain their vision, have boosted immune systems, reduce episodes of diarrhea, and so forth.

But I certainly think that's well worth celebrating!!!

It is one thing to celebrate numbers and good results, but I'd also ask that you consider the impact on a family that did not lose their child last year because of this effort.


"Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord."   
-- 
Ben

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