The values of direct double- to-single ionization ratio R of helium atoms induced by Cq+,Oq+ (q=1-4) ions at incident energies from 0.2 to 8.5MeV are measured.Based on the existing model (Shao J X,Chen X M and Ding B W 2007 Phys.Rev.A 75 012701) the effective charge of the projectile is introduced to theoretically estimate the value of R for the partially stripped ions impacting on helium atoms.The results calculated from our "effective charge" model are in good agreement with the experimental data,and the dependence of the effective charge on the ionization energy of the projectile is also discussed qualitatively.