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Vitamin Angels is committed to eradicating childhood blindness due to Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) on the planet by the year 2020. Operation 20/20 is the first major step in this global campaign, which will launch in 2007 18 countries.

In its first year Operation 20/20 will reach 4.5 million children to prevent VAD childhood blindness.  In addition to the vitamin A, all the children will receive de-worming medicine to improve the absorption of the vitamin A and help combat intestinal parasites.

Vitamin A is critical for vision, bone growth and normal bodily development, and plays an active role in supporting a child's immune system. Today, half of the children who go blind from Vitamin A Deficiency die each year from opportunistic infections and otherwise non-life-threatening illnesses. Vitamin Angels’ global initiative will focus specifically on providing basic vitamin A nutritional supplements to the tens of millions of children, living in extreme poverty, that are at risk of going blind or dying due to Vitamin A deficiency.

The cost to prevent a single child from going blind due to Vitamin A deficiency for one year is .25 cents. Over the course of four years, when children are most vulnerable, our total expense is $1. This covers the cost of two high dose vitamin A and anti-parasitic supplements given each year to a child from the ages of 2 to 5.