Sightsavers’ deworming work receives extra funding to reach millions of children

Charity evaluator GiveWell has provided a further US$7.8 million to fund Sightsavers’ deworming work in Nigeria and Cameroon.

This additional funding means millions of school-age children can be given treatment to protect them from schistosomiasis and intestinal worms – two parasitic infections that affect more than a billion people worldwide. The medication will be provided through current deworming programmes, which have been recommended by GiveWell as being extremely cost-effective.

GiveWell’s modelling shows that Sightsavers’ deworming work in Cameroon is 13 times more cost-effective than GiveWell’s baseline measurement, and 29 times more cost-effective in Nigeria.

Since Sightsavers’ GiveWell-funded deworming work started in 2017, it has supported governments to treat 27 million children in 72,000 schools, as well as training 90,000 teachers to distribute the medication.

GiveWell is known for its in-depth analysis to find and recommend charities. In November 2021, it recommended Sightsavers’ deworming programmes for the sixth year in a row. This new funding will now enable Sightsavers’ programmes in Nigeria and Cameroon to continue until 2025.