From torment to relief

One bite from an infected blackfly could lead to sight loss. This Christmas, you can help protect families at risk from river blindness.

Imagine being bitten by a fly every 45 seconds.

That’s hundreds of painful bites every day from tiny blackflies, and with every bite, the risk of losing your sight to river blindness increases. For families living alongside rivers, there’s often no way to escape the blackflies.

These rivers are a lifeline for communities, providing water, food and income from farming for many. But they’re also the breeding grounds for the blackflies that spread river blindness, making it difficult to avoid them.

You can help turn torment into relief

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Every bite carries the threat of river blindness.

No matter how hard Halimatu tries to protect her children, she can’t shield them from the blackflies. Over time, repeated bites can lead to severe infection, agonising symptoms and ultimately, sight loss if treatment isn’t received in time.

How river blindness develops

An infected bite

A person is bitten by an infected blackfly which transmits larvae into the bloodstream.

Larvae grow

Inside the body, the larvae develop into worms. Each worm can live and breed for up to 15 years.

Infection spreads

Female worms produce around 1,000 baby worms a day, which spread throughout the body.

Eye icon.

Risk of blindness

Baby worms can cause blindness if they reach the eyes. Early sight loss can be reversed if treated in time.

There is hope for families like Halimatu’s.

Through community treatment campaigns, sight-saving medication is distributed across entire villages to help stop river blindness before it’s too late.

This medication can help break the cycle of infection, bringing relief from the torment of river blindness and helping to protect future generations.

This Christmas, you can help more families and communities access the medication they need to protect their sight.

Halimatu holds her young daughter.
For families like Halimatu’s, this not only means relief from fear and distress – it means a future where children can grow up better protected from this devastating disease. Images © Sightsavers/Taiwo Aina
Halimatu smiles while wearing a purple headwrap.
The medication cures us when we take it. It has helped our community greatly.
Halimatu
Halimatu smiles while wearing a purple headwrap.

Help protect more communities from river blindness

DONATE