We’re working with Sudan’s ministry of health to deliver vital charity work that protects people from trachoma.
Sightsavers in Sudan
Sudan is a country in the Sahel region of northeast Africa. It was the largest country on the continent until South Sudan gained independence in 2011.
As one of the world’s biggest agricultural exporters, most people in Sudan are employed in farming and live in rural areas, where there is an inadequate water supply and poor sanitation. These conditions mean that neglected tropical diseases such as trachoma are rife.
Sudan has been devastated by years of civil war, leaving the country’s health care system very fragile. This means many people are unable to get medical care.
Sightsavers’ work in Sudan focuses on protecting people from neglected tropical diseases. In 2014, we began tracking the spread of trachoma in Darfur states, expanding to Khartoum in 2015. This enabled the country’s ministry of health to pinpoint exactly where to run treatment programmes.
In 2016, we began to distribute medication to prevent and treat trachoma in central, west and north Darfur – an area the size of France. Since then, Sightsavers has distributed hundreds of thousands of treatments for eye diseases such as trachoma and carried out eye screenings in areas of Sudan affected by civil war.
Facts about Sudan
- Population: 49 million
- Capital: Khartoum
- Official languages: Arabic and English
- Human development index (HDI) ranking: 172 (low)
3 million people in Sudan are thought to have vision loss
In 2015 there were 500 ophthalmologists in the country
Sightsavers has given out 6 million treatments in Sudan to protect against disease
Sources: IAPB, Sightsavers
How you can help
Our charity work in Sudan is helping to protect people from trachoma, but there’s still more we need to do to reach everyone.
With your support, we want to expand our treatment campaigns to other areas of the country that have been affected by civil war where trachoma is endemic. To do this, we need your help.
Charity donations, legacies, corporate partnerships and gifts from charitable foundations are a vital source of funding for our work in Sudan. We also welcome opportunities to work in partnership with governments, institutions and development organisations.
Contact us: If you have any questions about our work in Sudan, would like more information about our programmes or wish to discuss ways you can donate or support us, email [email protected]
Latest stories from East Africa
“We’re playing a critical role to banish trachoma”
Since 2012, Sightsavers has been using smartphones to collect high-quality data, so that countries can effectively map the disease and focus their elimination efforts.
December 2022
Captain Clean: teaching children about hygiene through games
Schools in Kenya, Ethiopia and Guinea are using educational board games to teach children about the importance of good hygiene to help eliminate trachoma.
June 2022
June 2021 update: highlights from around the world
A round-up of our work that your donations are helping to support, including news from India, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Malawi.
June 2021
Is data integration the answer to eliminating trachoma in Ethiopia?
Biruck Kebede, who leads Sightsavers’ NTD work in Ethiopia, explains how data can help to eliminate diseases such as trachoma.
Biruck Kebede, December 2020
Including people with disabilities in African political life
Our research shows that a lack of education and financial resources, social stigma and inaccessible physical infrastructure mean fewer people with disabilities are participating in politics in Africa.
Bhavisha Virendrakumar, October 2019
How soap and superheroes are changing lives
Geordie Woods explains how the Super School of Five trachoma prevention programme is protecting school children from this devastating disease.
October 2019
Discover where Sightsavers works in Africa and Asia
Where we work