Ophthalmologists, nurses, and eye health workers in Ethiopia defied the odds to treat millions with trachoma-fighting antibiotics and surgeries - despite cuts to UK Aid assistance threatening eye care. This World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day Orbis, the international eye care charity, are celebrating the achievements of its medical teams who have been working in Ethiopia for 23 years.
More than 12 million people have now been treated with the antibiotic Azithromycin across 102 districts in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR) and the new Southwest Region, where the burden of trachoma remains particularly high.
Over 1.7 billion people live with Neglected Tropical Diseases, which includes trachoma – the world’s leading cause of infectious. Globally, an estimated 1.9 million people are blind or have vision impairment due to trachoma and women are most at risk of developing trachomatous trichiasis - the most advanced and painful stage of the disease.
Repeat and untreated trachoma infections can lead to trichiasis and 70% of those living with trichiasis are women. It can be addressed with surgery but faced with the difficult decision of which gender to treat in families, it is often women and girls – who are less likely to be working– who are left waiting for medical care.
