We’re working with Guinea’s ministry of health to deliver vital charity work that protects people from diseases and trains eye health workers for the future.
Sightsavers in Guinea
Located on the Atlantic coast, Guinea takes its name from the Guinea region in West Africa.
Despite having rich natural resources, Guinea is one of the world’s poorest countries. Its health care system is underfunded and lacks essential resources. While there are qualified medical staff in the country, low levels of recruitment have left many roles unfilled, making it difficult for people to access health care.
Four neglected tropical diseases are endemic in Guinea. Sightsavers is working with the country’s ministry of health to tackle these diseases by distributing medication and training volunteers to refer people who need further treatment.
Cataracts are one of the main causes of sight loss in Guinea. To address this, we’re helping to improve Guinea’s health care system by providing surgical equipment, supporting cataract operations, training ophthalmologists and bringing in health workers from other West African countries, such as Togo, Niger, Mali and Benin.
Facts about Guinea
- Population: 13 million
- Capital: Conakry
- Official language: French
- Human development index (HDI) ranking: 182 (low)
Eye health workers in Guinea perform surgery to treat advanced trachoma.
We train eye health workers to carry out operations to treat conditions such as advanced trachoma and cataracts.
How you can help
Our charity work in Guinea is helping to protect communities from diseases, but there’s still more we need to do to reach everyone.
With your support, we want to expand our treatment campaigns to other areas of the country where neglected tropical diseases are endemic, and train eye health workers to help improve the public health service. To do this, we need your help.
Charity donations, legacies, corporate partnerships and gifts from charitable foundations are a vital source of funding for our work in Guinea. We also welcome opportunities to work in partnership with governments, institutions and development organisations.
Contact us: If you have any questions about our work in Guinea, would like more information about our programmes or wish to discuss ways you can donate or support us, email ask-guinea@sightsavers.org
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