In 2012, we tracked cases of trachoma in Ethiopia as part of the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. The data we collected showed that the disease was a public health problem in 90 per cent of districts: at that time, of the 109 million people who lived in the country, more than 69 million lived in trachoma-endemic areas, the highest of any country in the world.
To tackle this, under the Accelerate programme, Sightsavers and partners are continuing to use the World Health Organization’s SAFE strategy to stop the spread of trachoma through surgery, antibiotics, face washing and environmental improvements. In 2020, we helped to distribute 5.3 million antibiotic treatments for trachoma in the country.
The Super School of 5 programme introduces superhero characters to encourage school children to wash their hands and face and prevent the spread of diseases such as trachoma.
About Super School of 5Meet Samson, a trachoma surgeon who’s saving people’s sight by performing pop-up operations and outreach in remote communities in Kenya.
Schools in Kenya, Ethiopia and Guinea are using educational board games to teach children about the importance of good hygiene to help eliminate trachoma.
The Global Labor Program, part of the Inclusive Futures initiative, aims to increase the inclusion of people with disabilities and improve labour rights at two large Kenyan companies.
In Kenya, students who have been studying IT as part of a Sightsavers initiative are now looking ahead to their graduation, internships and future careers.
Our country office teams in Pakistan and Kenya spoke to the organisations of people with disabilities they work with about their hopes for the upcoming Global Disability Summit.
On 30 January 2022, Sightsavers staff and supporters joined the global event to raise awareness about eliminating neglected tropical diseases.
Sightsavers worked with the Kenyan government and partners to create the country’s first inclusive data action plan, which will help collect high-quality data about people with disabilities and the barriers they face.
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.
A round-up of our work that your donations are helping to support, including news from India, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Malawi.