Thursday 11th October is World Sight Day - a day to raise awareness of the millions of people who still don’t have access to decent eye care around the world.
We want to tell you about a sweet little girl named Meskenem. She came to the hospital here in Ethiopia, clinging on to her older brother’s hand. Her eyes were red-rimmed and teary. Her eyes were so itchy -- she couldn’t stop touching them.
Meskenem needs a full diagnosis for her infection, but it’s a suspected case of trachoma. If left untreated trachoma causes scarring to the eyelid that makes the eyelashes turn inward. With every blink they scrape against the eye causing immense pain.
There is grave need for investment in eye care in Ethiopia. While we’ve had a host of successes over the last 20 years, the population has nearly doubled in that time, from 65 million in 1998 to 105 million today.
Meskenem being treated by the doctor
The World Health Organization estimate 1.6 million people are living with blindness and 3.5 million are living with uncorrected low vision. Even more alarming is the fact that 87% of blindness and 91% of low vision is completely avoidable.
