Sightsavers — Deworming programme
Sightsavers works on a range of programmes to prevent blindness, advocate for disability rights, and fight neglected tropical diseases. It improves children’s lives and future prospects by treating two neglected tropical diseases — schistosomiasis and intestinal worms — with an intervention sometimes known as “deworming.”
What problem is Sightsavers’ deworming programme working on?
Schistosomiasis and intestinal worms are two parasitic diseases found mainly in tropical and subtropical climates — particularly in poor communities without access to safe drinking water and sanitation — that have a detrimental impact on children’s nutrition, health, and education.
According to the World Health Organization, 1.5 billion people worldwide are infected with intestinal worms, and 600 million school-aged children live in at-risk areas. Intestinal worms can cause a variety of health problems, including nutritional issues and problems with cognitive and physical development.
Schistosomiasis affects 240 million people worldwide, with more than 700 million people living in endemic areas. Schistosomiasis can “lead to serious long-term problems affecting the digestive, urinary, respiratory and nervous systems.” It is estimated that as many as 200,000 people die from schistosomiasis every year.
Both diseases can also affect social and economic outcomes, like employment and school attendance.
What does Sightsavers’ deworming programme do?
As part of its deworming programme, Sightsavers:
- Supports both school-based and community-based mass drug administration treatment programmes.
- Trains and works with local volunteers to facilitate the delivery of treatments and raise awareness about good hygiene practices.
- Offers a variety of technical assistance to the governments and NGOs it assists, including promoting community acceptance for mass drug administration programmes and conducting coverage surveys to monitor programme impact.
- Conducts research and uses data to inform its decisions.
Sightsavers reports that in the last project year (2021 to 2022), it treated more than 5.6 million children for schistosomiasis and/or intestinal worms.
Why is Sightsavers’ deworming programme one of our top-rated charities?
Sightsavers' deworming programme meets our criteria to be a top-rated charity based on the recommendations of one of our trusted evaluators, Founders Pledge. This recommendation was made on the basis of their internal evaluation of Sightsavers in 2023. Learn more about charity evaluators we trust and why.
Some other information relevant to Sightsavers’ cost-effectiveness is:
- Sightsavers was one of GiveWell’s top-rated giving opportunities from 2016 to 2022. GiveWell’s decision to no longer recommend it was not based on any shift in thinking about the programme, but rather a change in its top charity criteria. (See more about GiveWell’s decision.) GiveWell has continued to fund Sightsavers via its All Grants Fund.
- Open Philanthropy and GiveWell have awarded several grants to Sightsavers’ deworming programme, with GiveWell awarding $16.9 million in 2023, which is an indicator of its cost-effectiveness.
- Some research shows that deworming has positive effects on improved life outcomes like school attendance and income earnings. There is also some uncertainty surrounding findings that link deworming programmes to improved life outcomes — see GiveWell’s in-depth report on the case for mass deworming.
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