Feysel Abdullahi Samatar underwent a trachomatous trichiasis (TT) surgery in November 2023 to correct complications stemming from a long term trachoma infection. Several months after the surgery, Feysel details his recovery. Click the link to check out Feysel’s first story.
Feysel Abdullahi Samatar, 30, has been dealing with vision issues since he was 15 years-old. The slightest breeze or direct sunlight would cause pain and tearing. While living with an active trachoma infection for years, scar tissue formed on the inside of his eyelid, pulling his eyelashes inward, scratching the cornea with every blink. Eventually, he began plucking his eyelashes to relieve himself of the pain.
Trachoma is a bacterial infection endemic to Feysel’s region of Eastern Ethiopia. And as a farmer, these were discomforts that Feysel learned to deal with. As a father to seven and a husband, Feysel’s two hectares of farmland are how he provides for his family. With his family’s livelihood hinging on his ability to harvest the land, failure to work is not an option.
Yet, the toll of working outdoors with an active trachoma infection had begun to compromise his vision.
Trachoma is the second most common cause of blindness behind cataracts, and still remains a serious public health issue.
In 2023, 89% of Ethiopians were living in areas with high risk of the disease.
In November 2023, Feysel received a simple, but life-changing 20 minute surgery, to correct the orientation of his eyelashes.
“Before the surgery, when I woke up in the morning, my eyes would stick together and I couldn’t open them, and during the day it was impossible for me to do my work effectively in the sun and wind,” says Feysel as he reflects on the improved health of his eyes after the surgery.
“However, after the surgery, I can work properly in the sun and wind. The first ten nights after surgery were challenging, but once the stitches were removed, I was able to do my work as I wished.”
Feysel’s surgery also represents another vital development as Ethiopia works towards eliminating trachoma as a public health concern: access to and trust in health workers.
TT surgeon Ahmed Yusuf Egge performs a surgery on Feysel Abdullahi Samatar at the Darimi Health center in Tuli Guled District, Somali region, Ethiopia.
“I would highly recommend the surgery to anyone who has the same issues as me. I even asked the health workers to treat a woman in the neighborhood. The woman was elderly with severe trachoma to the point of losing her sight, and I advised her to have the surgery.”
Positive experiences build community trust in both the efficacy of treatments as well as in the advice of health workers,” says Feysel. “Equally as important to the treatment of trachoma symptoms is reducing risk of catching the infection.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is a vital component of the trachoma control playbook. According to Amref Africa, insufficient hygiene like face and hand-washing can cause the infection to spread quickly through tight-knit communities and families. That is why health workers like Ahmed Yusuf Egge, who performed Feysel’s surgery, continue to stress the necessity of proper eye-care in the region.
“Eye problems affect mostly poor communities. I want to help people who live in the rural areas who are not able to receive this treatment due to shortage of finances and other problems. We have eye doctors in [cities], but no one is willing to go to the rural areas to give eye services,” says Ahmed as considers how trachoma coverage in Somali region could be improved.
However, progress in the trachoma in Somali has been achieved. Through the ARISE Fund, END Fund Ethiopian partners like Amref Africa have been able to train TT surgeons like Ahmed to fill the backlog of TT cases so that patients can return pain-free to their daily activities.
The Somali region is currently surveying to determine the need to continue mass drug administrations. Following the World Health Organization recommendations, trachoma prevalence in children must drop below the prescribed 5% before preventive medicine can be stopped.
The work in Somali supported by the ARISE Fund builds on other efforts in Ethiopia. The END Fund’s partners in Ethiopia, supported by Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Legatum, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, performed a total of 81,391 TT surgeries – uncovered by over 8.2 million screenings – over recent years across seven regions, including in the Somali Region.
Click the link for more on the END Fund’s work on trachoma.