Togo
Sightsavers’ work in Togo focuses on preventing river blindness. In 2017, we helped to distribute more than 2.5 million treatments for the disease in Togo, and trained 11,800 volunteers to give out the medication.
Togo is one of the smallest countries in Africa. Located on the west coast, the narrow strip of land has a population of approximately 7.6 million people.
River blindness is a major problem in the country, with an estimated 4.7 million people requiring treatment to protect them against the disease. This parasitic infection is spread by the bite of infected flies, and can cause severe skin irritation, itching and, over time, irreversible blindness.
Sightsavers is working with the ministry of health in Togo to control the disease and aims to reduce its impact by helping to improve the local healthcare system. We train local volunteers to give out medication to whole communities, which can prevent the disease spreading.
Sightsavers is also running education programmes in the country to raise awareness about the importance of eye health, and is carrying out surveys to track the spread of the disease.
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