Pears Foundation has pledged £1.7 million to help prevent more than 1.5 million people in Ethiopia from losing their eyesight to Trachoma. This comes at a cruicial time amid growing concern over the impact of American aid cuts.
The five-year initiative will be delivered by the Israeli NALA Foundation, which works to combat neglected tropical diseases in Africa. NALA was approached to run the programme by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health following major reductions to US foreign aid spending, including cuts to programmes previously supported through USAID that targeted trachoma prevention and treatment.
Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. The bacterial infection spreads easily in areas with poor sanitation and can eventually cause permanent sight loss if left untreated.
Rather than focusing on regions with the highest current infection rates, the new programme will target Ethiopian communities where cases have already fallen significantly but remain vulnerable to resurgence if prevention efforts stop too early.
The programme will focus particularly on women and children and include hygiene education, improvements to sanitation and water infrastructure, support for local healthcare systems and research into long-term prevention.
Sir Trevor Pears said: “This partnership comes at a critical moment. Significant progress has already been made in reducing trachoma, but this can remain fragile when long-term support disappears too early. We believe philanthropy can play an important role in helping communities protect these gains and build sustainable local systems for the future.”
Michal Bruck, CEO of the NALA Foundation, said: “Global health progress is often most vulnerable at the final stage. Without continued investment, communities that have already made significant progress can quickly find themselves at risk again.”