CHEERing is partnering with Vitamin Angels, a global public health NGO whose goal is to reduce inequities in malnutrition by giving underserved, nutritionally vulnerable populations access to evidence-based nutrition interventions. The project will make vitamin A and deworming medicines available to children under 5, and multivitamins to pregnant women to refugee families in greater Athens.

CHEERing received 180 bottles (32,400 doses) of multivitamins for pregnant women; 500-doses of 100,000 IU Vitamin A for babies aged 6-11 Months; 2,000 doses of 200,000 IU Vitamin A for children aged 12-59 Months, and 2,000 doses of worm medication for children aged 12-59 months. The partnership includes in depth training for the CHEERing team members to implement the project.

“This is a great program for chronically undernourished populations, and an invaluable addition to our work distributing high nutrient foods and supplements to the refugee population in Greece,” said Anne Merewood, PhD, MPH and Director of CHEERing. Currently, CHEERing distributes multivitamins, vitamin D supplements, and iron to women with documented anemia living in Athens and refugee camps in Greece.

The grant was approved based on endemic vitamin deficiencies in the refugee population in Greece. Vitamin Angels works with over 1,200 local organizations, including governments, across more than 65 countries. They strengthen, extend, and amplify the work of in-country partners by delivering nutrition resources and services to more than 70 million pregnant women, infants, and young children annually who are underserved by existing systems.