Mectizan© distribution in Togo © Sightsavers

Togo

Togo is a largely rural country with a high rate of blindness, mainly cataract and river blindness.

Sightsavers in Togo

The prevalence of blindness is high in Togo - 1.4% in the northern rural areas - and more than 9% is due to river blindness.

Sightsavers was asked by the government in 2001 to reinforce the aerial spraying control programme - the only means of combating river blindness back then - by supporting Mectizan® distribution and now does so in all five districts of the country aiming to treat 95% of communities at risk from river blindness.

As well as combating infection in these areas, the programme will prevent the disease from spreading back into the far north of the country, where it had earlier been brought under control by the aerial spraying programme. Another prevention strategy is to bring the disease under control in neighbouring Benin, where Sightsavers also works, so as to avoid cross-border infection.

Assessing the situation in Togo