Helen Keller Intl's vitamin A programme gives children under five two doses a year to prevent blindness, stunting and death from deficiency, reaching roughly 32 million children annually across Africa and Asia. GiveWell has named it a top charity since 2018, estimating each dose costs well under $2.
A different cost-effective health gift than Fred Hollows' cataract surgery nearby: prevention at huge scale rather than a single operation, and GiveWell's repeated top-charity rating gives it some of the strongest vetting on this list. The per-dose cost shifts with each new GiveWell review, so treat any single figure as an estimate.
Where the money goes
GiveWell estimates each vitamin A dose costs well under $2 to deliver (figures range roughly $0.80-$2 depending on country), with a full year of two doses often cited at around $2 total per child.
