Project Background
Trachoma, a disease of poverty, is placing entire generations of people - especially mothers and children - at risk of blindness. The Fred Hollows Foundation is working hard to change that for the better.
Trachoma, a bacterial infection that can eventually cause irreversible blindness, was eradicated from the United States more than a century ago.
Yet in Ethiopia, more than 76 million people are at risk of contracting trachoma.
It is a scourge which is prevalent in hot dusty areas where people lack access to clean water and sanitation. Left untreated, the eyelashes can turn inward scraping the cornea, leading to agonisingly painful blindness.
Key Project Outcomes
Helping People See
- 17,472 people screened
- 3,413 surgeries performed to treat trachoma
- 1,460,414 people treated with antibiotics for trachoma
Investing in People
- 6 surgeons trained in surgery to treat trichiasis
- 4,478 people trained in basic eye care, including:
- 983 eye workers trained in Primary Eye Care
- 469 teachers
- 2,488 community leaders
- 538 others in eye health
- 560 eye health care professions trained in management and further professional education - 102,150 school children and 115,845 community members educated in eye health.
Equipment and Infrastructure
- 196 community water points repaired and 45 in schools
- 20 latrines built in schools
Ophthalmologist Dr Wondu examines Azmera's eyes after surgey Photo: Michael Amendolia
Case Study: Azmera
Like many sufferers, Azmera used the worrento, a type of tweezer to pluck out her eyelashes one by one in a desperate bid to save her sight and reduce the pain.
But The Foundation has saved Azmera’s sight as well as thousands of other Ethiopians. An army of community-based health workers, trained by The Foundation, has already treated millions of people with an antibiotic designed to prevent trachoma.
Surgeons are going village to village to conduct operations on the most advanced cases. The Foundation’s Global Technical Adviser on trachoma, Dr Wondu Alemayehu, said what is so shocking was that the worst cases are among mothers and children.
The simple act of caring for a child - touching, cuddling, and even washing – can spread infection. And if left untreated, they can lose their sight altogether. Dr Wondu is determined to stamp out the scourge. “The pain and devastation of trachoma can be stopped by under twenty minutes of surgery,” he says.
Azmera had advanced trachoma, on both lower lids, but thanks to surgery, her eye lashes are now turned outwards and her cornea spared. After six years of pain, she looked up at Dr Wondu after the operation and said:
“Now I can see my children, I can go back to work, and we can live a better life. I am just so happy.”
What's Next?
The North Shewa Blinding Trachoma Elimination Project is a six-year project running from 2013 to 2018 and is currently mid-way through the project.
There is always more work to be done as we strive to end avoidable blindness. The Foundation relies on the continued support of our generous donors to achieve Fred’s dream of a world where no one is needlessly blind.
The Foundation will continue to implement the S.A.F.E. strategy to eliminate trachoma in Oromia in 2016, expanding the project area to Horo Gudru, East Wollega and other zones.
Activities include recruiting and deploying experienced surgical teams, as well as training and equipping more surgeons to address the critical levels of patients requiring surgery for blinding trachoma.
The Foundation will work with project partners to ensure effective distribution of antibiotics to treat active trachoma. Behaviour change and community education activities will be undertaken to improve hygiene practices to reduce the spread of active trachoma. These include school education and drama clubs as well as training teachers on facial cleanliness messages.
The Foundation will work in collaboration with government and non-government organisations to build on existing water, sanitation and hygiene programs to achieve the environmental change component of the S.A.F.E strategy.
Can I visit this project?
Interested donors should contact The Foundation directly.
The project aim:
- Perform urgently required sight-restoring surgeries in the North Shewa zone by mobilising surgical eye health teams to reach people who are in need of surgery to reverse the blinding condition of trachoma.
- Increase access to trachoma eliminating strategies including provision of antibiotics, face and hand washing activities and education about environmental changes.
Project objectives:
- Screen over 54,000 people
- Perform trachoma trichiasis surgery on 10,830 people
- Treat 1,478,537 people with antibiotics
- Provide over $224,459 of equipment
- Train 3,100 Community Health Workers, Teachers and Community Leaders
- Invest in 20 water points and 35 latrines in schools
- Implement health promotion and behaviour change initiatives to 160,000 students and 180,000 members of the broader community
Background on this issue:
Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease and the leading infectious cause of blindness in the world. It starts as chronic inflammation of the eyelid. Repeated infections over time can cause scarring that is so severe the eyelid turns inward and the lashes rub on the cornea. If untreated the condition leads slowly and painfully to blindness.
Globally 1.2 million people are blind from trachoma. There are 229 million people living in trachoma endemic areas with 77% of the burden being in African countries. This disease often affects the poorest populations, living in remote regions where people have insufficient access to clean water and sanitation, live in crowded conditions, share clothing, bedding and face cloths and don’t have accessible local health services.
Ethiopia has the highest burden of blinding trachoma in the world with more than 76 million people living in endemic areas and 800,000 people at immediate risk of blindness in one region alone.
The Foundation is fighting to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020 through implementing the World Health Organisation’s SAFE strategy across all endemic districts in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The strategy consists of:
- Surgery to prevent blindness by correcting in-turned lashes
- Antibiotics to treat the active infection
- Facial cleanliness to stop the infection spreading
- Environmental improvement so people have better access to clean water and sanitation
Project partners
A key partner with The Fred Hollows Foundation in this fight against trachoma is the Ethiopian Government. The Foundation is also working at a global level to advocate for increased commitment to the elimination of trachoma and develop globally accepted standards and practices for SAFE implementation.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is an active member of the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) and the Neglected Tropical Disease Non-government Development Organisations Network (NNN) which are driving the global effort to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020.