By Ciara Baumgartner | Fundraising Officer
Covid 19 restrictions have ended in Ethiopia, and therefore the distribution of antibiotics can take place under normal circumstances again.
When the covid pandemic hit, the distribution of antibiotics could not be carried out in mass community events as before (known as Mass Drug Administration or MDA). However, any delay in the annual cycle of antibiotic treatment would have significantly delayed the elimination of trachoma.
Dr Alemayehu Sisay, Country Director for Orbis Ethiopia said: "Our team has remained committed to continuing to distribute sight-saving antibiotics, even as we've faced hurdles, because we know how restoring vision changes lives and communities."
An innovative and effective way that Orbis saves sight at the community level is through our door-to-door approach, a pivot required due to social distancing restrictions, school closures, and other pandemic-related challenges. Through our annual mass drug administration, we delivered more than 2.1 million doses of antibiotic azithromycin to Ethiopians at high risk for trachoma. Though this process is typically carried out in community settings, we continued the door-to-door model we piloted last year to minimise the spread of COVID-19. Door-to-door screening helped to increase case identification and surgical service uptake. These changes, also brought our programmes closer to communities, breaking barriers for women, children, and marginalised groups.
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