Since 2018, Sightsavers and The Fred Hollows Foundation have supported the efforts of ministries of health and local communities in these countries to eliminate trachoma – the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and which is part of a group of conditions known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
The Commonwealth Fund was created to ensure that citizens in trachoma-endemic countries could get the eye care they needed. To achieve these goals, the partners have used the SAFE strategy – an approach approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to control the spread of trachoma – which includes surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness and environmental improvements. They have also trained thousands of local volunteers to distribute medicine and carried out more than 100 surveys to collect vital trachoma data.
The UK aid-funded programme has had great success in the road to elimination, inclusion and health-system strengthening, including:
Edwin Simiyu, a trachoma surgeon working through the Commonwealth Fund in Turkana in Kenya is optimistic about the future: “With availability of resources and commitment from all the stakeholders it will be possible to eliminate trachoma.”
Sightsavers continues its fight to eliminate trachoma with its Ascend and Accelerate programmes.
Thanks to UK aid funding, Sightsavers has led Commonwealth Fund work towards trachoma elimination in 10 countries.
About the FundThe film ‘Can You See Us?’ is based on the life of John Chiti, who is a Zambian albinism rights campaigner and Sightsavers’ ambassador for the African Disability Protocol campaign.
The Promise in Peril campaign culminated at the SDG summit with a declaration reaffirming commitments to achieving the global goals that explicitly references disability rights.
Dr Jalikatu Mustapha trained with Sightsavers between 2012 and 2016, becoming the only female ophthalmologist in the country.