We work with the government and partners in Benin and countries across Africa to deliver vital charity work and protect people from neglected tropical diseases.
We work with the government and partners in Benin and countries across Africa to deliver vital charity work and protect people from neglected tropical diseases.
Benin, located in West Africa, has a young population. Most citizens are aged between 15 and 35 years old, and agriculture is the main source of income.
While the health care system has improved in recent years, low investment means there is a lack of qualified staff, and resources such as medical equipment and medicines are scarce.
People living in rural areas often struggle to access quality eye care, which means many people have cataracts.
In May 2023, with support from Sightsavers and partners, Benin announced it had eliminated trachoma. Now, our work on neglected tropical diseases in the country focuses on fighting river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
Neglected tropical diseases pose a high risk to people in Benin, with the potential to cause serious illness and disability.
River blindness and lymphatic filariasis are endemic in many areas of Benin, and Sightsavers’ charity work in the country focuses on preventing, treating and eliminating these two infectious diseases. Schistosomiasis and intestinal worms are also widespread in the country.
Our work in Benin helped to eliminate trachoma, but there’s still more we need to do.
With your support, we want to eliminate river blindness and lymphatic filariasis in Benin, so no one is at risk of losing their sight or developing a long-term condition from contracting these diseases. To do this, we need your help.
Charity donations, legacies, corporate partnerships and gifts from charitable foundations are a vital source of funding for our programmes in Benin. We also welcome opportunities to work in partnership with governments, institutions and development organisations.
Contact us: If you have any questions about our work in Benin, would like more information about our programmes or wish to discuss ways you can donate or support us, email [email protected]
Representatives from Sightsavers, the national and state governments and the global health community joined an event on 20 November in Abuja to celebrate Sightsavers’ achievements in the country.
Benin and Ghana, two of the countries where Sightsavers works, have been recognised for their success in wiping out several diseases that are prevalent in poor and marginalised communities.
Sightsavers’ Peter Anomah-Kordieh Kwasi shares successes and what we learned from the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie participation project, which Sightsavers supported as a partner to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
Both countries’ achievements have been validated by the World Health Organization, meaning they join a growing list of countries to have banished the disease.
Benin has become the latest country to eliminate blinding trachoma. Here we meet people whose lives have been transformed, and those who helped to banish the disease.
Gertrude, who is Sightsavers’ global advocacy manager for social inclusion, becomes the first African woman to lead the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.