Global Trachoma Mapping Project, funded by UK-aid, aims to eliminate the disease by 2020 in sudan with technology and research.
Trachoma – the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, is an outcome of poor hygiene conditions prevailing in Sudan. Years of repeated infection can cause the inside of the eyelid to scar so severely that the lashes scar the cornea.
The mapping project :
- Launched this week by the Uniting to Combat NTDs coalition
- Uses smartphones to log data which is uploaded to an online Trachoma Atlas
- The data helps governments and aid agencies to target treatment at those who need it most.
Trachoma can be prevented and treated with surgery, antibiotics, face washing and a clean environment.
