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Fighting disease

Givemore Mafukidze, wearing a Sightsavers tshirt, stands with Dr Agatha Aboe.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers is runner-up for two global development awards

A pioneer in disease elimination and a groundbreaking project to make workplaces more inclusive have been recognised by the prestigious Bond awards.

March 2020
A community worker from Sightsavers' NTDs campaign.
News / Fighting disease /

Interviews shine a spotlight on how a blinding disease is being eliminated

Sightsavers experts have highlighted progress being made on river blindness in two media interviews.

March 2020
A surgeon dressed in scrubs prepares for theatre
Stories / Fighting disease /

Meet Elizabeth, who’s helping to restore sight in Kenya

A decade ago, Turkana had the highest prevalence of trachoma of any county. Now thanks to eye health workers like Elizabeth, the number of cases have been severely reduced.

A woman dressed in traditional clothing poses for the camera. she is blind in her left eye.
Stories / Fighting disease /

The friend next door: how Ekeno’s neighbour saved her sight

Ekeno was experiencing terrible pain in her eyes until her neighbour Susan, a Sightsavers-trained community worker, was able to get her the help she needed.

A dam in the Cascades region, Burkina Faso.
Stories / Fighting disease /

Treating river blindness in Burkina Faso

Sightsavers is working towards the elimination of trachoma and river blindness in Burkina Faso, thanks to our partnership with L’Occitane Foundation.

Participants at a blood collection training session.
Blogs / Fighting disease /

Making research count: introducing the new uptake and learning team

Sightsavers’ new research uptake and learning advisors share their efforts to make sure our research makes a real difference to the lives of people across the world.

Sightsavers, February 2020
A group of children sit on the floor at the museum listening to a talk by Sightsavers
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers teams up with the Science Museum for a special series of Astronights

Astronights gives children a fun opportunity to learn more about Sightsavers and our work.

February 2020
A young boy stands outside in the sun wearing light coloured clothes. There is a small house to the left and a tree to the right.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers surgeon featured on BBC for World NTD Day

Our sight-saving work in rural Kenya was featured in BBC coverage for World NTD Day 2020.

January 2020
A man holds a sign that says
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers and partners celebrate the first World NTD Day

The first World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day on 30 January 2020 kicked off a year of decisive action on NTDs.

January 2020
A group of female and male community volunteers stand for a portrait holding dose poles.
News / Fighting disease /

World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day 2020: highlights from around the world

On 30 January, Sightsavers joined in celebrations for the first ever World NTD Day around the world.

January 2020
A nurse helps wash a woman who has lymphatic filariasis wash her swollen leg.
Stories / Fighting disease /

Caring for patients in Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo may have the highest burdens of neglected tropical diseases, but people on the ground are working to protect communities.

A plush toy fly, snail, and worm are set up in a coconut-shy styled 'elimination' game,
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers to host Elimination Game at the Science Museum

Sightsavers will join the free Science Museum Lates event on 29 January, where visitors can try their hand at 'eliminating' tropical diseases.

January 2020
A large group of people stand with their awards for tackling river blindness in Nigeria.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers wins award for its work to eliminate river blindness in Nigeria

The Nigerian ministry of health presented the award for Sightsavers' work to treat the disease in Kaduna State.

December 2019
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers rated a top charity by GiveWell for the fourth time

The charity evaluator praised Sightsavers’ deworming work in Africa for its cost-effectiveness and transparency.

November 2019
Caroline Harper, CEO of Sightsavers, holding a dose pole.
News / Fighting disease /

Dr Caroline Harper wins the first Hemingway Award

Sightsavers’ CEO was recognised for her work to help eliminate trachoma by transforming the way funding is secured.

November 2019
Samson Lokele poses next to his image in the Science Museum exhibition.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers’ pioneering work is showcased in new Science Museum exhibition

Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries is the world’s largest medical gallery and will be on display for at least 30 years.

November 2019
A male Tropical Data trainer shows female trainee how to identify what trachoma follicles would look like by using small, circular, red stickers with five white dots on their thumbs.
News / Fighting disease /

Huge increase in Tropical Data surveys means more people are checked for trachoma

More than 700 surveys to track levels of blinding trachoma have been completed globally in the past year as part of the Tropical Data initiative.

October 2019
Samson Lokele talks to Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.
News / Fighting disease /

The Queen hosts reception celebrating progress to eliminate trachoma

Staff gathered at Buckingham Palace in the UK to recognise the achievements of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust’s Trachoma Initiative.

October 2019
Four Sightsavers staff members smile at the camera.
News / Fighting disease /

Groundbreaking disease prevention programme is presented to MPs

The parliamentary event showcased the UK government’s new flagship NTD programme, Ascend, which aims to protect 200 million people from neglected tropical diseases.

October 2019
A still from Sightsavers' film with ITN, showing presenter Natasha Kaplinsky alongside the Sightsavers logo.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers’ work to fight disease features in new video

The video, introduced by newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, includes a segment on Sightsavers' work to tackle schistosomiasis in Guinea-Bissau.

September 2019
Muhammed, who has lymphatic filariasis, with health worker Suraji in Nigeria.
News / Fighting disease /

New health programme will protect 200 million people from disease

The Ascend programme, which Sightsavers is leading, aims to tackle six of the world’s worst diseases in 25 countries.

September 2019
Two trucks drive through a dusty landscape in Benin, with parched shrubs on either side of the road.
News / Fighting disease /

BBC Africa films first trachoma operations in Benin

A team from ‘La Vie’, BBC Africa’s French-language health programme, followed the story of two women from Benin as they had surgery for blinding trachoma.

September 2019
A woman with LF cleans her affected limb.
Blogs / Fighting disease /

Catching the mosquitoes that spread lymphatic filariasis

Sightsavers’ research, which involves testing mosquitoes for signs of the disease, can help us to ensure treatment is directed where it’s needed most.

Dr Rogers Nditanchou, September 2019
A local health worker hands medication to a woman as another health worker looks on.
News / Fighting disease /

Nearly 300,000 people given medication in Egypt during first mass trachoma campaign

Antibiotics were distributed in the Menia region of northern Egypt, where nearly 10 per cent of children aged one to nine had symptoms of the disease.

September 2019
Boulders in a river beneath a canopy of trees.
News / Fighting disease /

Nigerian hotspot declared free from river blindness

The disease has been banished from key areas of Nigeria where it was once endemic, bringing it one step closer to being eliminated.

August 2019
Sightsavers surgeon Aliyu smiles with a group of children.
Stories / Fighting disease /

Meet the dancing trachoma surgeon

Aliyu A-Umar, a former trachoma surgeon in Nigeria, has an inspiring way of making people feel at ease about eye care.

Caroline Harper speaks at the TED summit in July 2019.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers and END Fund join forces at TED summit to inspire action on NTDs

Sightsavers’ CEO Dr Caroline Harper and the END Fund’s Sam Mayer presented a session looking at how countries are making huge strides towards eliminating neglected tropical diseases.

July 2019
A group of participants from the Sudan Tropical Data training stand together for a photo.
Blogs / Fighting disease /

How health workers are gathering data to fight trachoma in conflict areas

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Health in Sudan invited eye health workers from Somalia and Libya to attend a training session to teach them how to gather data as part of the Tropical Data initiative.

Cristina Jimenez, June 2019
A surgeon operates, using only the light of a window, on a patient to save their sight from trachoma.
News / Fighting disease /

Photo of sight-saving surgery is nominated for UK prize

Adriane Ohanesian’s image of a surgeon operating on a teenager in a makeshift clinic has been put forward for the Wellcome Photography Prize 2019.

June 2019
A woman affected by lymphatic filariasis (LF) sits outside her home.
News / Fighting disease /

Sightsavers’ research on NTDs and disability is published by Oxford University Press

The research, carried out by Sightsavers, looks at the relationship between disabilities and neglected tropical disease treatment.

May 2019
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