Light Up the World for NTD Day

Neglected Tropical Diseases are one of the leading causes of preventable blindness globally, affecting over 1.7 billion people. They are most prevalent in rural regions, poor urban areas and conflict zones, and cause impairments that continue the cycle of poverty by keeping children out of school and adults out of work.

Trachoma is a painful bacterial eye infection, and one of those most prevalent NTDs. Orbis's 2020 Mass Drug Administration (MDA) program has treated millions in Southern Ethiopia, and virtually eradicated the disease from 24 regions in the country.

The Neglected Tropical Disease that Orbis primarily focuses on is trachoma. Trachoma - a painful bacterial eye infection - is one of those most prevalent Neglected Tropical Diseases and a major focus of our work globally. We recently celebrated the news that trachoma has decreased by 91% since 2002 in endemic areas.

Over the past 22 years, we have administered over 82 million doses of donated Azithromycin in Ethiopia, with 65% of those doses distributed in the last five years. Orbis has also conducted nearly 174,222 trachomatous trichiasis surgeries and has established more than 320 primary eye care units.

Slideshow below: Images from our most recent Mass Drug Administration in Ethiopia in December

On January 30, 50 landmarks and buildings representing 25 nations will light up orange from 6PM-11PM local time to demonstrate the global effort to fight these painful diseases.