Together, L’Occitane and UNICEF are working to prevent childhood blindness, by funding and implementing Vitamin A supplementation programmes throughout the developing world.
90% of people with visual impairments live in developing countries and 80% of all cases of blindness are avoidable.
Blindness has multiple causes, the main one being vitamin A deficiency, which particularly affects children and women in developing countries. To make sure every child in need gets its necessary doses of vitamin A, UNICEF implements supplementation programmes in low-incomes countries.
Every Child. Every dose. Every year.
In developing countries, 250,000 to 500,000 children become blind each year due to a lack of vitamin A.
Vitamin A can prevent blindness and is also vital for the development of a child’s immune system. Increasing the vitamin A intake of a child who suffers from a deficiency can reduce their mortality rate by approximately 23%.
UNICEF plays a leading role in the effort to reach all children between the ages of 6 months and 59 months with life-saving supplements every 4–6 months.
L’Occitane’s support allows UNICEF to provide additional Vitamin A doses to children in Myanmar, Bolivia, Papua New-Guinea and recently in Niger, four countries with a particular prevalence of vitamin A deficiency, and therefore a higher risk of visual impairment for the most vulnerable children.
L’Occitane Keeps on Supporting UNICEF
Committed to fight avoidable blindness with UNICEF since 2016, L’Occitane set the following goal: to prevent blindness for 10 million people worldwide by 2020. In this context, the partnership will allow L’Occitane to reach more than 2 million children in 2020.
In order to renew its commitment to support UNICEF, L’Occitane is launching a new solidarity soap in 96 countries. For each soap sold, 3 children will receive vitamin A supplementation for one year in Myanmar, Bolivia and Papua New-Guinea*.
“L’Occitane’s support to UNICEF is essential as it will allow us to accelerate the deployment of vitamin A supplementation programmes and efficient prevention strategies”, declared Sébastien Lyon, Director General of UNICEF France.
*UNICEF does not endorse any brand, product or service.
