Ensuring Girls in Ethiopia Receive Basic Eye Care

Incredible eye health workers like Dinknesh often travel treacherous journeys across the country to complete a crucial task in the fight to eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia.

Trachoma is an easily preventable bacterial eye infection. Yet today, it is still a significant cause of irreversible blindness and low vision across rural Ethiopia. Each year Orbis conduct Trachoma Impact Surveys in areas across southern Ethiopia. These surveys involve multiple teams travelling long distances to conduct home-to-home screenings. Each team comprises graders - who assess the eyes of people in the community and identify anyone with active trachoma – and recorders, who then record this data. This home-to-home process also ensures the most vulnerable people in the community are reached, like women and girls. 

Trachoma Impact Surveys are a critical tool in the fight against blinding trachoma. They give us vital prevalence data that helps determine interventions, and teams raise awareness, promote good hygiene, and offer treatment for early-stage trachoma.

Dinknesh, who works as an Integrated Eye Care Worker, became a trachoma Grader three years ago after receiving training from Orbis.

Her drive to work in eye care began when she witnessed someone’s sight restored: “The doctor removed a woman’s eye dressing. She looked up and she was able to see. Her joy was infectious.”

“It is also painful to see those who are blind just because they couldn’t access eye care.”

Last year surveys began in September and took teams almost two months to complete from start to finish.

“We screen around 30 houses each day. One day I found three children with active trachoma, two of the children were from the same household and I gave them eye ointments. On another day we found three adults that required surgery and we referred them to the nearest health center.”

For Dinknesh, one of the most rewarding aspects is hearing the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by their home-to-home screenings. “During this survey, I met a woman who told me that ‘last year I was blind, I stayed home alone, but because of your visit, I got referred to a health center for surgery and I can see now.’ I love this job because it prevents blindness.”

We want to thank Dinknesh and all her colleagues, who have been working hard to conduct the recent Trachoma Impact Surveys. Thanks to their dedication and commitment, many communities can look forward to a trachoma-free future.