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Fighting disease

Four Sightsavers staff members smile at the camera.

Groundbreaking disease prevention programme is presented to MPs

The parliamentary event showcased the UK government’s new flagship NTD programme, Ascend, which aims to protect 200 million people from neglected tropical diseases.

October 2019
A still from Sightsavers' film with ITN, showing presenter Natasha Kaplinsky alongside the Sightsavers logo.

Sightsavers’ work to fight disease features in new video

The video, introduced by newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, includes a segment on Sightsavers' work to tackle schistosomiasis in Guinea-Bissau.

September 2019
Muhammed, who has lymphatic filariasis, with health worker Suraji in Nigeria.

New health programme will protect 200 million people from disease

The Ascend programme, which Sightsavers is leading, aims to tackle six of the world’s worst diseases in 25 countries.

September 2019
Two trucks drive through a dusty landscape in Benin, with parched shrubs on either side of the road.

BBC Africa films first trachoma operations in Benin

A team from ‘La Vie’, BBC Africa’s French-language health programme, followed the story of two women from Benin as they had surgery for blinding trachoma.

September 2019
A woman with LF cleans her affected limb.

Catching the mosquitoes that spread lymphatic filariasis

Sightsavers’ research, which involves testing mosquitoes for signs of the disease, can help us to ensure treatment is directed where it’s needed most.

Dr Rogers Nditanchou, September 2019
A local health worker hands medication to a woman as another health worker looks on.

Nearly 300,000 people given medication in Egypt during first mass trachoma campaign

Antibiotics were distributed in the Menia region of northern Egypt, where nearly 10 per cent of children aged one to nine had symptoms of the disease.

September 2019
Boulders in a river beneath a canopy of trees.

Nigerian hotspot declared free from river blindness

The disease has been banished from key areas of Nigeria where it was once endemic, bringing it one step closer to being eliminated.

August 2019
Sightsavers surgeon Aliyu smiles with a group of children.

Meet the dancing trachoma surgeon

Aliyu A-Umar, a former trachoma surgeon in Nigeria, has an inspiring way of making people feel at ease about eye care.

Caroline Harper speaks at the TED summit in July 2019.

Sightsavers and END Fund join forces at TED summit to inspire action on NTDs

Sightsavers’ CEO Dr Caroline Harper and the END Fund’s Sam Mayer presented a session looking at how countries are making huge strides towards eliminating neglected tropical diseases.

July 2019
A group of participants from the Sudan Tropical Data training stand together for a photo.

How health workers are gathering data to fight trachoma in conflict areas

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Health in Sudan invited eye health workers from Somalia and Libya to attend a training session to teach them how to gather data as part of the Tropical Data initiative.

Cristina Jimenez, June 2019