The solutions exist. Millions of women still can't access them.
You can change that.
Every year, 4.5 million women and newborns die during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after birth — one death every seven seconds. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for roughly 70% of global maternal deaths. The world is not on track to meet its 2030 goal of reducing maternal mortality, and progress has stalled in recent years.
These deaths are not inevitable. The interventions exist. They are low-cost, evidence-based, and deliverable through existing health systems. What's missing is the investment to get them to scale.
Evidence Action closes that gap — scaling proven health solutions through the government systems that will sustain them long after donor funding ends. Your support puts effective interventions into the hands of the health workers, clinics, and schools that reach women and girls where they are.
Screening and treating syphilis in pregnant women
One million pregnant women worldwide have active syphilis — the second most common infectious cause of stillbirth. Each year, it causes an estimated 200,000 stillbirths and neonatal deaths. A single penicillin injection costing less than $0.50 prevents the vast majority of these outcomes, yet more than half of affected women attend antenatal care and are never tested. Our Syphilis-Free Start program integrates rapid screening and same-day treatment into routine prenatal visits across sub-Saharan Africa — so no woman leaves a health facility without being tested.
Closing the nutrition gap for adolescent girls and pregnant women
One billion adolescent girls and women worldwide experience undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, or anemia — conditions that impair development, increase pregnancy complications, and contribute to maternal death. Our Equal Vitamin Access program helps governments deliver iron and folic acid supplementation to adolescent girls through schools, and multiple micronutrient supplementation to pregnant women through antenatal care. Both are WHO-recommended, low-cost interventions with strong evidence of impact on anemia, birth outcomes, and child development.
Delivering safe water to the women and families who need it most
The water crisis is not gender-neutral. Women collect water, manage household water use, and bear the consequences when it isn't safe — lost time, lost income, and sick children. Our Safe Water Now program treats water at the source through chlorine dispensers and in-line chlorination systems, reducing child mortality by approximately 20%. Behind the technology are more than 100,000 women serving as village health promoters and community advocates across Africa and India.
Deworming to keep girls healthy and in school
Parasitic worm infections drive anemia and impair development — and adolescent girls are disproportionately affected, with 26% anemic globally compared to 18% of boys. Our Deworm the World program reaches over 200 million children annually through school-based platforms. Deworming treatments reduce anemia, increase girls' school attendance, and long-term research shows children who received additional years of treatment earned 13% more as adults.
Maximum impact per dollar
We believe no one should suffer or die from conditions we already know how to prevent or treat. Evidence Action makes proven health solutions accessible to those who need them most, relieving human suffering and breaking the cycle of poverty across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
⚡ Cost-effective
Our programs exceed the WHO's threshold for "highly cost-effective" interventions.
🌍 Proven at scale
We reach 200M+ people each year across ten countries, with our deworming program alone reaching one in five children who need treatment worldwide.
🔬 Evidence-driven
All our work is grounded in rigorous research and ongoing monitoring, from Nobel laureate economists to the data we collect in the field today.
Trusted as one of the most transparent, high-impact charities.
Every dollar goes where the evidence points.
Every program on this page — from syphilis screening to safe water to school-based nutrition — is funded through unrestricted donations that allow Evidence Action to direct resources where they're needed most. Your gift helps us scale the interventions that reach women and girls across all of our programs.
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