World NTD Day

The next World NTD Day will be celebrated on January 30, 2023 and we're joining the 300+ organizations to help raise awareness and call on the global community to work together to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) blind, disable and disfigure people, taking away not only their health, but also their chances of staying in school, earning a living, or even being accepted by their family or community.

LIST OF NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

The neglected tropical disease that Orbis primarily focuses on is trachoma.

Trachoma – a painful bacterial eye infection – is one of those most prevalent neglected tropical diseases and a major focus of our work globally. We recently celebrated the news that trachoma has decreased by 91% since 2002 in endemic areas.

This is all thanks to the collaborative efforts of the eye health community and those who support it, helping get clean water, sanitation, education and preventative antibiotics to those at risk.

But the fight is far from over! With the right tools and knowledge in place, we can make an neglected tropical diseases like blinding trachoma history.

Trachoma thrives in overpopulated rural areas with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water. It’s a disease of poverty that affects the poorest of the poor. Because trachoma is transmitted through close personal contact, poor hygiene practices and by flies spreading the infection from person to person, it quickly infects entire families and whole communities.

Thanks to the support of partners and donors, we’ve effectively eliminated trachoma in 38 districts of Ethiopia, freeing entire communities from the grip of this terrible disease. Here's how we're addressing trachoma, particularly in rural areas where there's limited access to healthcare.

TRAINING ON THE FRONTLINE:

We're training a whole host of outreach workers in hard-to-reach areas of Ethiopia to deliver the surgeries and treatments needed to fight the disease.

MASS DRUG ADMINISTRATION:

Since 2008, we've helped distribute more than 98.2 million doses of antibiotics to treat and prevent trachoma. The latest mass drug administration (MDA) took place at the beginning of 2023. With extra planning and precautions still in place due to COVID-19, our teams in Ethiopia have to work even harder to protect families from this blinding disease.

The antibiotic that we use is Zithromax, which is produced by Pfizer. Pfizer kindly donates all the Zithromax that the Orbis team needs to end this disease.

EDUCATING COMMUNITIES:

We're building awareness of the infection and promoting better hygiene through educating community health workers, health extension workers, teachers, local women’s group leaders and community leaders about eye health.

This World NTD Day, we'd like to pay a special thanks to all of our volunteers, partners and supporters, who have been instrumental in the fight against trachoma around the world.

With your ongoing support, our goal is to eliminate this terrible blinding eye disease.