“ I Was Blind, But Now I See ” – Celebrating Malawi’s Progress on World NTD Day

Vainesi, a former trachoma trichiasis patient, cheers in celebration knowing that trachoma has been eliminated in Malawi. Vainesi had suffered with the pain caused by trachoma for 10 years before a local disability mobiliser encouraged her to go to the hospital for treatment. By Lazarus McCarthy ChakweraLILONGWE, Jan 30 2023 (IPS) “I was blind, but now I see.” This is what Vainesi, from Salima District in Central Malawi, said after surgery to treat trachoma. A mother of three, Vainesi had been unable to work or provide for her family once the disease began to affect her eyesight. Vainesi is one of millions of Malawians who joins me in celebrating a historic milestone – in October, Malawi became the first nation in southern Africa to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. Our success in eliminating trachoma comes hot on the heels of another elimination success. Two years ago, in 2020, we also eliminated lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes that leads to disfiguring swelling and disability Trachoma is a bacterial infection of the eyes that causes severe swelling and scarring of the eyelids and is the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness. As recently as 2015, 7.6 million people in Malawi were at risk from this disease, but now this threat has been removed from our land. I wish to pay particular tribute to all our partners and friends of Malawi who supported our efforts in fighting trachoma. Our success in eliminating trach...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Development & Aid Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news