Côte d’Ivoire
Sightsavers’ work in Côte d’Ivoire focuses on diseases such as river blindness. In 2017 we distributed 3.5 million treatments and trained 7,000 volunteers to give out medication.
Neglected tropical diseases such as river blindness are a major health problem in Côte d’Ivoire.
It’s believed more than 17.4 million people (76 per cent of the population) are in danger of contracting lymphatic filariasis, a debilitating infection transmitted via mosquito bite.
More than 2.2 million people are also at risk of river blindness, which can cause severe skin irritation, itching, visual impairment and irreversible blindness. It is spread by the bite of infected black flies.
To combat these diseases, Sightsavers distributes medication to treat them and stop the spread of infection. In 2017, we distributed almost 3.5 million treatments for neglected tropical diseases in Côte d’Ivoire and trained 7,497 community volunteers to gather data and give out medication to protect against NTDs.
At a glance
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Key programmes
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