Alongside the medication programme, we produce educational materials to raise awareness of the importance of eye health. We train local volunteers to distribute medication within their communities, and we carry out screenings to check for river blindness and lymphatic filariasis so patients can be referred for treatment.
Thanks to UK aid’s flagship NTD programme, Ascend West and Central Africa, as a consortium, Sightsavers along with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), Mott Macdonald, and the SCI Foundation, is supporting ministries to combat these diseases as well as provide treatment to protect communities from schistosomiasis.
About 50 per cent of people in Liberia live in rural areas that often lack health services. The poor road networks exacerbate the problem: only seven per cent of Liberia’s roads are paved. We work with the Ministry of Health and others to identify and fill gaps in eye care, especially in remote areas.
Sightsavers’ Imran Khan explains how we’re working with the Liberian government to eliminate avoidable blindness in the country, and improve health and education for future generations.
Read Imran’s blogTo find out the challenges of teaching children, particularly those with disabilities, during health crises we spoke with Abdul Kandeh Turay, a teacher in Rokulan, Sierra Leone.
In Sierra Leone, children with disabilities are often considered not worth educating. We've worked with schools to make sure these children are not left behind.
The Ascend West and Central Africa programme partners helped Liberia respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Here, we tell how.
As the 17-year-long Seeing is Believing project comes to an end, Imran Khan goes behind the scenes to reveal why it has made such an impact.
Following rigorous safety measures, we have been able to restart our work fighting disease and saving sight all over the world.
Sightsavers project officer Eric Musa visits Marie, who has been blind since birth, to find out how she’s continued her education throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.