- Trachoma is the leading cause of blindness due to infection worldwide. It is a bacterial infection of the eye, and though it causes irreversible blindness, trachoma can be treated if diagnosed early.
- Trachoma spreads through flies and/or direct contact with secretion from the eye, nose, or throat of people who are infected. Often beginning in childhood and passed from child to child or between child and mother, trachoma progresses slowly and can become chronic with the more painful symptoms emerging only later in adulthood.
- Trachomatous trichiasis (TT) surgeries are required when scar tissue from a prolonged infection has tightened the inside of the eyelid, pulling the eyelashes inward, scratching the cornea with each blink.
- Through the ARISE Fund, END Fund Ethiopian partners like Amref Africa have been able to confirm cases and provide necessary surgeries so that patients like Feysel can return pain-free to their daily activities. The Somali region is currently surveying to determine the need to continue preventative drug campaigns. Following the World Health Organization recommendations, trachoma prevalence in children must drop below the prescribed 5% before preventive medicine can be stopped.
