Fighting Blindness in Ethiopia

Eye care in Ethiopia faces major challenges.

These include a lack of eye health workers and the high prevalence of trachoma.

A 2020 survey by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimates 8.8 million people are living with vision loss in Ethiopia. Out of this number, 780,000 people are blind.

Major causes of vision loss in Ethiopia include cataracts, glaucoma, refractive error and trachoma.

Trachoma is the largest cause of infectious blindness in the world. Recent years have seen the elimination of trachoma from a number of other countries. Now, 52% of the global population at risk from this blinding eye disease live in Ethiopia.

In the past 25 years Orbis have played a leading role in:

• Delivering over 100 million doses of the trachoma-fighting-antibiotic, azithromycin, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR)
• Delivering more than 217,000 sight-saving surgeries
• Achieving the elimination threshold for trachoma in 48 districts
• Helping to train hundreds of optometrists and ophthalmologists

Thanks to our supporters, and the hard work and dedication of our local staff and program partners in Ethiopia.

In 2023, we marked the milestone of our 100 millionth dose of the trachoma-fighting antibiotic, azithromycin.

With our partners in Ethiopia and a global coalition, we are working towards the Word Health Organisation (WHO) target of global trachoma elimination by 2030.

Orbis is also working to make sure that sustainable eye care is accessible to everyone.

That means providing access to treatments for cataract, refractive error and glaucoma and for treatment that requires more specialised eye care.