Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness. It causes blindness by scarring the eyelids, which ultimately turns the eyelashes inwards so that they scratch the eye. Trachoma is controlled through the “SAFE” strategy, which comprises Surgery for in-turned eyelashes, Antibiotics to clear infection, and Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement to reduce infection transmission. Using “SAFE” strategy, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners had planned to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem by 2020. Though many efforts made and significant progresses observed, the goal yet not achieved in some parts of the world, including Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has the highest known burden of trachoma in the world: an estimated minimum of 75 million Ethiopians is at risk of infection, and the disease is responsible for one-third of all the 1.2 million cases of blindness and 3.1 million cases of visual impairment in the country. Afar, Benshangul Gumuz, Gambela and Somali are among the developing regions where extensive investments have to be made to cover the unmet needs of trachoma control and elimination.
Amref Health Africa is well positioned to lead the Neglected Tropical Diseases prevention and control in general, trachoma in particular initiative in Afar, Benshangul Gumuz, Gambela and Somali regions. Amref has been implementing the TT surgery and other trachoma projects in these regions for more than six years, which enabled to get the important experience in trachoma interventions in developing regions.
Theory of Change
Primary Outcomes
- Ensured effective, equitable and efficient delivery of TT surgery services in 75 intervention woredas
- About 15,670 TT patients received high-quality TT surgery services
- Ensured appropriate leadership, technical capacities and systems are in place to implement, coordinate and monitor trachoma elimination as public health problem
- TT services are embedded into the health system, in order to sustain efforts towards trachoma elimination once the project is complete
Design/Approach
Aligning with Federal Ministry of Health’s goal of eliminating blinding trachoma as a public health problem in the country, the project supports a total of 15,670 TT surgeries in Afar, Benshangul-Gumuz, Gambela and Somali regions. We provide technical support and supervision including training of TT surgeons, mobilizing patients, improve the quality of the services, providing surgical consumable supplies necessary to perform TT surgeries and monitoring and evaluating program performance on regular basis.
