More than 136 million people worldwide are at risk of going blind from the disease.
About the diseaseThe End is in Sight is Sightsavers’ campaign to eliminate blinding trachoma in countries where it is still a public health problem. Our aim is to eliminate this disease in most of the countries where we work by 2025.
Trachoma has devastated the world’s poorest communities since the earliest records, and worldwide there are currently about 1.9 million people who are blind or visually impaired because of it. Our campaign asks people to help us make the ambition of ending this avoidable disease a reality.
A huge amount has been achieved so far: the number of people at risk of trachoma has fallen by 91% since 2002 (WHO, June 2019). However, there is still a great deal of work to do. Sightsavers is working in more than 30 countries across Africa and Asia to eliminate trachoma. Will you help us beat it?
But the longer they go without treatment, the more damage trachoma can cause. And it takes more than their sight. The agony and disability of trachoma can stop people earning a living and prevent children going to school, leaving them trapped in a cycle of poverty.
It takes their independence. Their education. Even their future.
Through years of hard work, we’ve weakened trachoma’s grip and have beaten it in countries such as Ghana and The Gambia. Now we have a chance to make history.
Our plan is to eliminate the disease in most of the countries where we work by 2025. Will you help us achieve this?
We've still a way to go - but so far the campaign has already made great strides towards elimination, Ghana was declared trachoma-free in 2018, with The Gambia following in 2021.
Latest achievementsSeven-year-old Muzi, from Sokoto, Nigeria, was suffering from painful trachoma and was at risk of going blind. He could not go to school or play with other children. But thanks to Sightsavers, he was diagnosed and had an operation to save his sight. Read his story
On 30 January 2022, Sightsavers staff and supporters joined the global event to raise awareness about eliminating neglected tropical diseases.
The display shows how Sightsavers and its partners are using mobile technology to combat diseases such as trachoma and river blindness.
On 21 October 2021, teams in key districts on both sides of the Kenyan-Ugandan border began a mass drug distribution campaign to fight the disease.