Sightsavers has worked in Ghana since the 1950s, and we’re on track to tackle these diseases for good. In June 2018, Ghana was confirmed as the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate trachoma following, the efforts of the ministry of health and partners including Sightsavers.
Now we are working to eliminate river blindness and lymphatic filariasis too. We tackle these diseases through mass drug administration (MDA), in which medication is given to large sections of the population to prevent the spread of the diseases. In 2018, we helped to distribute more than 3.8 million treatments for neglected tropical diseases across the country, and trained 20,000 local volunteers to give out medication in their communities.
In 2016 we also helped to screen schoolchildren in Ghana for health problems such as poor vision and worm infections, and distributed spectacles and treatments. This was part of our School Health Integrated Programming (SHIP) project.
Watch the video below to see the story of trachoma elimination in Ghana.