January 28, 2021, NEW YORK – Ahead of World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, leading eye care nonprofit Orbis proudly celebrates 22 years of working to eliminate the blindness-causing infection trachoma in Ethiopia. Most recently, Orbis administered more than 7.5 million doses of trachoma-fighting antibiotics in just one month despite significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trachoma is highly contagious, but it is easily treatable with antibiotics if it is caught early. In December 2020, Orbis initiated a mass drug administration (MDA) across 89 districts in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR), where the burden of trachoma remains particularly high, ultimately administering 7,553,496 doses of the antibiotic Azithromycin.
During that time, Orbis also performed 5,449 surgeries in cases where trachoma infections had progressed to trachomatous trichiasis, a painful condition in which scarring causes the eyelid to turn in on itself and the eyelashes to scratch the eye, ultimately leading to blindness. All procedures were conducted with COVID-19 prevention protocols, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), in place.
Normally, MDAs take place in community settings in Ethiopia, but preventing the spread of COVID-19 required that the Orbis team take a door-to-door approach. While safer, the process is nearly twice as time-consuming.
“Just a couple of years ago, the community working to eliminate trachoma and other neglected tropical diseases celebrated a 91% reduction in the number of people at risk of trachoma around the world, but the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened to set back our progress to eliminate trachoma significantly,” says Dr. Alemayehu Sisay, Country Director for Orbis Ethiopia.