Eyes of the world has been working in Mali for some time to eliminate trachoma, an eye disease transmitted by direct contact with infected people, especially in family environments, and by flies that land on the eyes. When a person is infected by the bacteria, an inward fold forms on their eyelid that causes the eyelashes to scratch against the eyeball, a condition called trichiasis.
On this occasion, priority was given to trichiasis care in Koro district, since, according to statistics from the national eye health programme, it is a priority district in the context of eliminating this disease.
The key to its prevention is good basic sanitation and education on proper personal hygiene. That is why the campaign has been focused on the rehabilitation of different defective water wells to give them a correct and valuable use for the population, increase their access to clean water and thus be able to improve their hygiene.
Several identification missions were carried out at eight drilling sites, including those of Guingal, Tonon, Sinda, and Péné, with the participation of the head of the local hydraulic service, the agents of the ophthalmology department of the Reference Health Center, the different local councils and Koro circle council.
Apart from the fine-tuning of the different water wells in the village of Péné, the transformation of the human-powered pump into a pump that works with solar energy was carried out.
Moreover, a trichiasis screening and surgery commission was also organised with a team of ten ophthalmologists. The campaign was extended to ten different areas of Mali including Koro, Guingal, Tonon, Sinda and Péné. A total of 12,408 people were screened and 37 were operated on.