Trachoma is eliminated in Malawi

In early September 2022, I documented communities in the central region of Salima, Malawi as they prepared to celebrate the elimination of trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. On 21 September 2022, the World Health Organization announced that Malawi had eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, becoming the first country in southern Africa to reach this historic milestone. To celebrate, Sightsavers worked with students of an after-school club to write letters to people in their community who had played a part in the elimination of trachoma. We also met with people whose sight had been saved, through surgical intervention, to see how their lives have changed.

To learn more please read this supporting story I wrote for Sightsavers.

©Sightsavers/Alyssa Marriner