11th October - Trachoma Elimination Conference

With 64 million people at risk, Ethiopia is home to just over half the world’s burden of trachoma and seventy percent of cases in the country impact women.

The conference, organised by Orbis, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the British Embassy, included speakers such as:

• Her Excellency, Dr Leah Tadesse, Minister of Health, Ethiopia
• The British Ambassador, HMA Darren Welch
• Patients who had experienced trachoma.

Her Royal Highness delivered the keynote speech, highlighting the impact of trachoma on women, children, livelihoods and education. The Duchess also recognised the hard work and dedication of the government and organisations collaborating closely to make trachoma history in the country. The World Health Organisation has set a timeline to eliminate trachoma by 2030.

The Duchess commented: “So much has been achieved both here in Ethiopia and around the world. But now is the time that we must all redouble our efforts if we are to achieve our aim of eliminating trachoma by the year 2030, which is a mere six years away.

“We must not let ourselves become defocused or complacent. We are on the cusp of achieving something almost unimaginable in previous years. Every person involved in this vital work has reason to be so very proud of each and every accomplishment... We are creeping closer to our incredible goal and I urge you all to keep your eyes on the prize and to make this disease so awful that it is worthy of mention in the Bible, a thing of the past and give our communities the gift of sight.”

The theme of the conference was defined by the Ethiopian proverb When spiders unit they can tie down a lion. When reflecting on the conference, Dr Leah Tadesse, and Dr Caroline Harper, the CEO of Sightsavers, reflected on the number of spiders aka stakeholders, that have united and will continue to unite, to tie down trachoma across the country.

Dr Alemayehu Sisay accompanied Her Royal Highness on the visit to see our trachoma elimination projects, and delivered the closing remarks of the conference focusing on teamwork and collaboration.

Learn more about trachoma directly from Dr Sisay by watching the video below.