Evidence Action

What Evidence Action does

Evidence Action is a Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2013 that scales evidence-based public health interventions targeting preventable disease, malnutrition, and unsafe water conditions in low-income populations across Africa and Asia. The organization operates four core programs: Deworm the World (school-based deworming delivering 2B+ treatments since 2012), Equal Vitamin Access (IFA supplementation reaching 26M children in India), Safe Water Now (chlorine dispensers and in-line chlorination devices at community water points), and Syphilis-Free Start (maternal syphilis screening integrated into antenatal care). It also runs an Accelerator methodology that vets emerging programs against a DALY cost-effectiveness threshold of ≤½ average GDP per capita across operating countries (~$690/DALY). Two additional programs — multiple micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women and reading glasses for presbyopia — are in development with pilots scoring $75-$243/DALY.

The organization's underlying technology stack is intentionally non-proprietary: chlorine dispensers are point-of-collection dosing devices installed at boreholes and springs, in-line chlorination devices are PVC piping systems with no moving parts and no electricity requirement, and program delivery is integrated into government health and education systems rather than parallel platforms. The proprietary asset is methodological — a DALY-based program vetting framework supported by independent third-party evaluations through Innovations for Poverty Action and the Development Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago. The organization operates in 10 countries (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, Cameroon) with regional HQs in Nairobi (200+ staff) and Nigeria (~40 staff), and reports 530M cumulative beneficiaries reached, 16K+ under-five lives saved, and $23B in productivity gains from deworming over its first decade.

The business model is donation-funded rather than revenue-generating. Evidence Action is entirely supported by charitable contributions from individuals, foundations, and institutional philanthropy, with Open Philanthropy / Coefficient Giving (Cari Tuna / Dustin Moskovitz vehicle, $4B+ in cumulative distributions, $600M+ in fiscal 2025) documented as a major institutional funder alongside GiveWell-recognized giving channels. Program unit costs are extremely low (<$0.50 per child per year for deworming and IFA; ~$2.13 per full 180-day MMS course). Distribution is achieved through technical and financial assistance partnerships with ministries of health and education rather than direct service delivery, and the go-to-market is event- and infrastructure-driven (school enrollment cycles, community water points, antenatal care visits, community health worker networks such as Sahiyas, ASHAs, and Anganwadi workers). Recent strategic emphasis has shifted toward portfolio discipline: in 2025-2026 the organization publicly reduced its Kenya chlorine dispenser footprint by 56% and wound down Malawi / scaled back Uganda operations following an external evaluation showing ~70% lower adoption than internal monitoring had indicated, while accelerating IFA scale-up in India and adding Climate x Health and maternal health program lines.

Name

Evidence Action

Legal name

Evidence Action

Website

https://evidenceaction.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Evidence Action is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that scales evidence-based public health interventions — deworming, iron supplementation, safe water, and maternal syphilis screening — across 10 countries in Africa and Asia through government partnerships and donor-funded technical assistance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Global Public Health Programs

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health Program Evaluation (HLAJANAE), Community Health, Prevention & Health Education (BPAGACAC), Maternal, Child & Family Health Departments (HLAJAAAK), Healthcare Outcomes & Real-World Evidence (RWE) Analytics (BPAHALAN)

Keywords

• School-based deworming
• Iron folic acid supplementation
• Safe water chlorination
• Maternal syphilis screening
• Public health programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: Evidence Action is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that relies entirely on charitable donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations to fund program delivery. Donations may be designated for specific programs or unrestricted.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Evidence Action is a nonprofit organization that scales four evidence-based public health programs — Deworm the World (school-based deworming), Equal Vitamin Access (iron and folic acid supplementation), Safe Water Now (chlorine-based water treatment), and Syphilis-Free Start (maternal syphilis screening/treatment) — delivered through technical and financial assistance to government ministries that integrate the interventions into existing health and education systems across 10 countries in Africa and Asia.

Product overview

Evidence Action is a nonprofit organization that scales evidence-based health interventions rather than a technology product company. Their portfolio consists of four core programs: Deworm the World (school-based deworming), Equal Vitamin Access (iron and folic acid supplementation), Safe Water Now (chlorine-based water treatment), and Syphilis-Free Start (maternal syphilis screening and treatment). These programs are delivered through government partnerships in 10 countries across Africa and Asia, supported by their Accelerator methodology for vetting interventions. The organization also pilots emerging programs including multiple micronutrient supplementation and vision correction. Rather than a unified software platform, Evidence Action's 'products' are public health delivery programs that use data-driven approaches and technical assistance to achieve health outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Deworm the World School-based deworming program delivering treatments for soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis to school-age children (5–14), delivered through ministries of education and health across multiple countries; has delivered over 2 billion treatments since 2012.
• Safe Water Now Safe water access program deploying point-of-collection chlorine dispensers at water sources and in-line chlorination (ILC) devices on piped systems to provide rural and peri-urban communities in Kenya, Uganda, and India with access to chlorinated drinking water.
• Equal Vitamin Access Iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation program delivering weekly vitamins to children and adolescents through schools and Anganwadi/community health centers to prevent anemia; reached 26 million children and adolescents with full IFA coverage in India by 2024.
• Syphilis-Free Start Program integrating syphilis screening and treatment into antenatal care to prevent congenital syphilis; scaled nationwide in Liberia with 97% of congenital syphilis cases prevented, and expanding to additional countries.
• In Development Programs (MMS and Reading Glasses Pilots) Pilot-stage programs under Evidence Action's Accelerator process, including multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) for pregnant women (~180-day WHO-recommended course at ~$2.13 per woman) and reading glasses for presbyopia, delivered through antenatal care facilities and vision screening pilots.

Quantifiable outcome

• 530 million people reached globally with health interventions
• +10 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Malaria ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal health organization also receiving grants from Coefficient Giving, working in parallel on disease prevention programs.
• Helen Keller IntlminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal health organization also receiving support from Coefficient Giving, focused on nutrition and health programs.
• DIL India (Development Innovation Lab)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with DIL India and Telangana Agriculture Department to deliver weather advisory initiative via WhatsApp to 17 districts, helping farmers with climate variability planning.
• Government of Nigeria (State Ministries of Health, Education, Federal Ministry)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical and financial assistance to Nigerian government for deworming programs across five states (Rivers, Cross River, Lagos, Oyo, Ogun), reaching 6 million children annually.
• Government of Uganda (Ministry of Water and Environment, Ministry of Health)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Uganda's government ministries, Uganda Water and Sanitation Network, and local governments across 22 operational districts for safe water programs reaching 4.7 million people.
• Government of Kenya (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, county governments)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose partnership with Kenyan government for school-based deworming (62M+ treatments) and safe water programs reaching 1.9 million people across the country.
• Development Innovation Lab (DIL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with DIL at University of Chicago for independent evaluations of chlorine dispenser programs in Uganda and Malawi, conducted with Innovations for Poverty Action.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerData collection partner for independent evaluations of safe water programs, conducting census-based surveys in Uganda and Malawi.
• EAII AdvisorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical partner in India supporting Evidence Action's work, including iron supplementation programs and in-line chlorination implementation.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sightsavers: Sightsavers is a global NGO that scales evidence-based interventions for neglected tropical diseases (including deworming for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths) through government health system partnerships in Africa and Asia, directly mirroring Evidence Action's Deworm the World model.
• Malaria Consortium: Malaria Consortium is an explicit peer named in Evidence Action's partnership data, focused on disease prevention (malaria, NTDs) in Africa and Asia with government-embedded delivery and seasonal campaigns targeting school-age children and pregnant women.
• Helen Keller Intl: Helen Keller Intl is named in Evidence Action's partnerships as a fellow global health NGO focused on nutrition and disease prevention, with overlapping IFA supplementation, vitamin A, and NTD programs delivered through government health systems in similar geographies.
• PATH: PATH is a large global health nonprofit that designs, evaluates, and scales evidence-based health interventions through government partnerships, particularly in maternal and child health, nutrition, and water/sanitation, sharing Evidence Action's model of technical assistance at scale.
• Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI): CHAI partners with governments in low- and middle-income countries to strengthen health systems and scale proven interventions, often in the same geographies and disease areas (maternal health, NTDs, vaccines) where Evidence Action operates.
• END Fund: The END Fund is a private philanthropic initiative specifically focused on ending neglected tropical diseases through government and NGO partnerships, directly competing with Evidence Action in deworming program funding and execution.

Broad incumbents

• GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly is a top GiveWell-rated nonprofit with a similar evidence-based, EA-aligned operating philosophy, though it delivers cash transfers rather than health interventions; it is a comparable model for donor capital allocation in the same effective giving ecosystem.
• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Gavi is a much larger global health financing and delivery organization that operates through government partnerships in the same low-income countries as Evidence Action, though focused on immunization rather than deworming, nutrition, or safe water.

Emerging players

• Last Mile Health: Last Mile Health trains and supports community health workers (similar to Evidence Action's ASHA/Sahiya/Anganwadi model) to deliver primary care in remote African communities, sharing the workforce-embedded delivery approach.
• VillageReach: VillageReach strengthens health supply chains and last-mile delivery in sub-Saharan Africa, overlapping with Evidence Action's chlorine dispenser distribution and community-based delivery mechanisms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EvidenceAction
• Facebookfacebook.com/evidenceaction

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Evidence Action