Together, we can #EndTrachomaNow

When the global pandemic disrupted our work in 2020 and threatened to undo two decades of progress we’d made in the fight to eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia, we took action.

We knew if people couldn’t get the antibiotics they needed, the disease would regain a foothold in the communities where we'd worked so hard to eliminate it.

When we asked for your support to keep this critical work moving forward in 2021, you responded.

Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, your donations allowed Orbis to deliver 12.3 million doses of Azithromycin to treat and prevent trachoma in Ethiopia this past year.

This effort culminated with a large-scale mass drug administration (MDA) program in December that saw us reach nearly 9 million people across 102 districts where the burden of trachoma remains especially high.

Thanks to your support, we’ve effectively eliminated trachoma in 38 districts, freeing entire communities from the grip of this terrible disease – but we can’t stop now.

The trachoma crisis in Ethiopia is real and it's urgent. Millions of people, especially women and children, are needlessly suffering from this terrible disease. They're at risk of losing their vision, their independence, their livelihood, their chance to get an education, and their opportunity for a better life. We need to act right now.

Trachoma is a highly contagious eye disease and the leading infectious cause of preventable blindness worldwide. It’s a bacterial infection, just like common ‘pink eye’, that starts in childhood.

While early infections cause only minor itching and irritation of the eyes and eyelids – and usually clear up on their own – repeated infection leads to blisters and scars on the underside of the eyelid.

Over time, this scarring causes the eyelashes to turn inwards and scrape the surface of the eye. This condition, called trichiasis, is excruciatingly painful and leads to permanent damage to the eye, eventually resulting in irreversible blindness.

Working in collaboration with our community partners, we've made great strides in fighting trachoma over the last two decades – and not just by distributing antibiotics.

Through of MDA programs, we've also helped raise awareness about the importance of good hygiene practices to limit the spread of the infection.

We've also helped improve access to clean water and proper sanitation, and played a leading role in trachoma research efforts, a critical tool for tracking progress and informing strategies to help fight the disease moving forward.