It’s thought that 5.8 million people need medication to protect them against river blindness, and more than 2.7 million people for lymphatic filariasis. To tackle this, we’ve trained more than 29,000 community volunteers to give out medication and distributed almost 10 million treatments in the country.
We also aim to improve the quality of eye health services in the country and ensure more people can access them.
As part of our inclusive education project in the Bombali district of Sierra Leone, funded by the European Union, we support children with disabilities, particularly girls, to make sure they have a chance to go to school. We are working with partners to improve 45 schools and train teachers so they have the specialist skills to help children learn.
Dr Jalikatu Mustapha trained with Sightsavers between 2012 and 2016, becoming the only female ophthalmologist in the country.
Sightsavers has partnered with the Fred Hollows Foundation and PlenOptika to pilot a new vision care strategy that aims to revolutionise eye care worldwide.
Saio has a physical disability that affects her feet and makes walking difficult, meaning she was missing out on a lot of her education. A Sightsavers-supported inclusive education project has provided transport to take her to school and training for her teachers, which has made a huge difference.
Meet Dr Jalikatu, who’s the only female ophthalmologist in Sierra Leone and the head of the national eye care programme.
Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to restart our work quickly and safely. Sightsavers staff reveal our how eye care programmes have evolved in the past 18 months.
Sierra Leone has become the 50th country to be surveyed for trachoma as part of the initiative, with one person being examined for trachoma every 26 seconds since the surveys began in 2012.
To 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.
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.