How can a t-shirt cause blindness?

Talla is just five. He's one of the many people in some of the world's poorest countries who are at risk of slowly and painfully going blind unnecessarily from trachoma.  This highly contagious disease is spread through contact and is easily carried on clothing, fingers or by flies. Each infection leaves some scarring on the inside of the eyelids.

Repeated infections over the years cause ever greater scarring, which finally results in the eyelids turning inwards. It's then the real torment starts. With every blink, the eyelashes scrape against the surface of the eyes, damaging the cornea. In their desperation, many people pull out their eyelashes, but they always grow back, even stronger than before - bringing worse pain and eventual blindness.

Imagine just 83 cent can stop the agony
The real tragedy is that trachoma is such an easy disease to prevent. It can be treated quickly and effectively in its early stages with a course of ointment called tetracycline costing just 83 cent.  But in some developing countries, getting the right medication can be virtually impossible.

You can help this Christmas
That's why we're asking for your help. A gift to Sightsavers today could help us treat many more people like Talla, releasing them from the threat of blindness.

Together with your support, Sightsavers can help to relieve their suffering.

Achievements

 

Last year we helped our partners to:

• Treat over 990,000 people for trachoma, with antibiotics
• Carry out 12,886 trichiasis surgeries
• Train 47 people to carry out lid surgery