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River Blindness
Onchocerciasis, or also known as river blindness, is caused by infections that occur after being bitten by a black fly, which is found near swiftly flowing rivers (hence the nickname of the disease). Villagers have abandoned fertile land near the rivers to avoid being bitten. The treatments are not only preventing blindness but also enabling people to return to rich land and revive their local economy.
Approximately 100 million people in Africa and Latin America are at risk of contracting the disease and, despite major advances in control, 18 million people remain heavily infected.
LCIF has awarded nearly $30 million to support the distribution of Mectizan, the drug used to treat and control the disease to 114 million people in 15 countries. In Latin America, experts foresee eradicating river blindness once and for all by 2010.
Trachoma
Trachoma is one of the oldest known infectious diseases and the leading cause of preventable blindness, affecting 6 million people, with another 500 million at risk from the disease.
It is a bacterial disease, spread easily through close contact. It does not immediately blind those infected with the disease, instead it is a slow and painful robber of sight. Children and women are most susceptible to infection, and the repeated scratching of the cornea from inturned eyelashes can lead to complete blindness. In addition, trachoma is often generational, as it is easily transmitted by a mother's unknowing touch to wipe her child's eye.
Lions are very active in the fight against trachoma. Through SightFirst, LCIF has provided $10 million in funding for eight ongoing projects and funding assistance to The Carter Center. Ethiopia alone has received more than $7 million in funding due to the high prevalence of the disease. Funds are supporting tens of thousands of cataract operations, training ophthalmic nurses and surgeons, providing medicines, and strengthening eye care centers in rural and underserved areas.
Working with other NGOs, Lions have developed a comprehensive long-term plan for eliminating trachoma by 2020. Since 1999, LCIF has awarded trachoma control project funding to nine countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.
In January 2008, the 10 millionth dose of azithromycin (Zithromax®), the drug to control and prevent trachoma, was distributed in Ethiopia. LCIF has also funded the construction of more than 300,000 latrines to help improve sanitary conditions and eye health.
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