Sightsavers ranked as a top charity by GiveWell for fifth year in a row

The charity evaluator has once again praised Sightsavers’ deworming programmes in Africa for their cost-effectiveness and transparency.

GiveWell is a non-profit group that rates the effectiveness of global charities each year and promotes them to donors. The criteria focus on impact, cost-effectiveness and transparency.

Sightsavers has been rated for its work tackling parasitic worm infections in children. With deworming treatments, the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) schistosomiasis and intestinal worms can be treated and prevented effectively.

For the fifth year in a row, GiveWell has judged Sightsavers’ deworming work an outstanding opportunity for donors to make a difference with their contributions. This means that Sightsavers’ GiveWell-funded projects can extend in Nigeria, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo into 2022.

Schistosomiasis affects almost 220 million people worldwide, and more than 700 million people live in endemic areas. More than 1.5 billion people are infected with intestinal worms, a high number of which are school-age children. If left untreated, these infections can cause stomach problems, anemia, nutritional problems; affect physical and cognitive development and disrupt school attendance.

Sightsavers’ global CEO Dr Caroline Harper said: “We are so proud to have been named as one of GiveWell’s top charities for the fifth year running. It is a true testament that Sightsavers is one of only nine charities globally recommended by GiveWell for delivering cost-effective and high-impact interventions.”

Thanks to GiveWell’s support we’ve been able to reach school-aged children who live in areas endemic for schistosomiasis and intestinal worms; in the last project year more than 8.7 million children were treated. With their continued support we can continue to treat children for these damaging NTDs, improving health and helping keep them in school.