Ghana has made history as the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate the disease and joins Cambodia, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Oman and Nepal in this achievement. With celebrations continuing, at Sightsavers we’re reflecting on our involvement in this milestone, what we’ve learned from the experience and the work that lies ahead.
Sightsavers was part of group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that founded the Ghana Trachoma Programme, drafting the first strategic plan to control trachoma in coordination with the National Eye Health Programme. Our support focused on training ophthalmic nurses, many of whom later became surgeons for the trachoma programme.
We came in stronger in 2010 to support programme implementation: promoting house-to-house screening to find the final people who needed surgery or antibiotic treatment, conducting the pre-validation surveillance survey in all previously known endemic districts, and helping to develop the trachoma elimination dossier – a comprehensive template that must be submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO) to validate that a country has reached its elimination targets.
We followed a team of eye care workers as they raced through villages to find any remaining patients: they needed to treat them all to eliminate the disease.
Read the storyFirst, it’s important to note that in Ghana the work is not over. We mentioned above that trachoma will continue to be tracked at district level in the event that new cases appear. Communication about behaviour change will also continue: for example, two previously endemic regions will continue to use trachoma messages in their posters and jingles so people keep up the good behaviours that helped us reach elimination.
On the research side, Sightsavers’ Laura Senyonjo, Dr Agatha Aboe and David Agyeman are working with the Ghana Health Service to review the trachoma surveillance strategy and assess its ability to identify potential resurgence of infection and transmission.
Looking beyond Ghana, The Gambia, Mali, and Togo are believed to be submitting their dossiers to WHO next year. Other countries, such as Malawi, are close and will be going through the two-year disease surveillance period before submitting the dossier.
Above all, success in Ghana has inspired everyone who works in neglected tropical diseases: it’s a tangible example of a country eliminating a once-endemic disease. We have a roadmap for success, and we will be following it in all the countries where we work. Congratulations to everyone involved!
Author
Sarah Bartlett
Sarah is Sightsavers’ mHealth adviser.
In May 2018, Ghana became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate trachoma. Read the amazing stories here.
Government leaders, health workers, volunteers and international aid workers have gathered in Ghana’s capital, Accra, to mark the achievement.
David Agyemang, Sightsavers’ programme manager in Ghana, describes the optimism and celebration as the disease is banished from the country.