News & Publications

Trachoma Control Program - Stories From the Field 

Jan. 26, 2010
Meet Yalanbu Zenabu: Former Trichiasis Patient Sees Hopeful Future
Three years ago, Yalanbu Zenabu of Botingli, northern Ghana, was consumed by the daily suffering of trachoma.  As a victim of trichiasis, the blinding form of trachoma, her disease had progressed to the stage where her eyelashes scratched against her eye, causing intense pain and debilitation.

June 24, 2009
Nigerien Soap Provides Income, Helps Prevent Blindness
It is nearly evening in the desert village of Adorihi in southern Niger, and 36-year-old Aisha Oumarou crouches over her cooking fire carefully mixing oil into a pot on coals. Although the mixture smells faintly of peanuts, the hot dough that Oumarou extracts from the pot and rolls between her hands is not destined to be the evening's meal, but balls of soap.

July 1, 2008
Sudanese Girl Sees Bright Future After Surgery for Trichiasis
Due to an extremely high level of advanced-stage trachoma (trichiasis) in Ayod County, Sudan, an eye clinic in Ayod town was set up to help the county health department further the trachoma control activities of Jonglei state's ministry of health. The clinic building was donated by the Economic Housing Group, and construction support was provided from Terrain Services Limited. In late 2007, local nurses were trained to perform trichiasis surgery, supervised by Sidney Katala, an internationally known trichiasis surgeon. One patient, Nyakier Mabor Gai, spoke to Carter Center staff about her life before and after trichiasis surgery.

May 1, 2008
Paul Emerson: Fly Expert Tackles Trachoma in Africa
Growing up in England, Dr. Paul Emerson dreamed of becoming a scientist and an educator, the kind of individual who would have both the technical knowledge and practical skills to show people how to better their lives. That dream led him first to teach in England and Africa, then to become a medical entomologist, and now to The Carter Center, which he joined three years ago as director of the Trachoma Control Program. "My specialty is the humble house fly and the diseases it transmits," he said. One of the worst of these is trachoma, a bacterial infection of the eyes.

Dec. 19, 2006
Many Forgotten Diseases, One Integrated Approach
Over the past two decades, The Carter Center, in partnership with Nigerian health authorities, has created a village-based health care delivery infrastructure to treat multiple diseases simultaneously. Thanks to these interventions, children can have the opportunity to grow up no longer fearing the blindness, disfigurement, organ damage, and life-sapping fevers that their parents suffered.


Oct. 27, 2006
Trachoma Study in Sudan Shows SAFE Strategy Works
Children in the United States may not give grape-flavored cough syrup another thought, but in Eastern Equatoria, Sudan, children look forward to their yearly dose of an antibiotic that tastes like bananas. The medicine, azithromycin, is one part of a strategy designed to prevent blinding trachoma, a bacterial eye disease and leading cause of preventable blindness in the world.


May 1, 2006
Education Key to Reducing Trachoma Across Africa
"My mother believed you got trachoma from crying," said Neter Nadew, a 36-year-old Ethiopian mother of four who suffers as her mother did from trachoma, a bacterial eye disease that can lead to blindness. Nadew's mother was forced to pluck out her eyelashes to prevent the onset of blindness in the later stages of the disease.

1 May 2006
Dr. Emmanuel Miri: 'Dr. Water' Pours New Life into Rural Nigerian Communities with Carter Center Health Programs
His name means "water" and "life" in the Southeastern region of his native Nigeria, and perhaps no name could be more appropriate for Dr. Emmanuel Miri, resident technical adviser for the Carter Center's health programs in Nigeria.

Aug. 24, 2005
Trachoma Radio-Listening Club Volunteer Spreads Health Messages Across Ghana
Memunatu Alhassan lives in Botingli village in Northern Ghana. She is an active member of her village's radio-listening club and frequently appears on the shows herself. The Carter Center supports the production of trachoma radio shows, pays for airtime, and has provided 250 Freeplay™ radios to the radio-listening clubs.

Aug. 31, 2004
Stories From the Field: Yengussie Tebeje
Yengussie Tebeje, 55, sits outside her hut next to a small fire in the rural Ethiopian village of Mosebo. As flies dart around and land on her worn face, she describes her struggle against trachoma, a debilitating eye disease.

June 11, 2004
Niger Latrine Program Aids Trachoma Prevention
An assessment of the Carter Center's latrine project in Niger, undertaken to reduce incidence of trachoma, has shown encouraging results. After one year, household latrines are widely accepted, used and maintained.

May 2, 2004
Visualizing Trachoma in Sudan: A Photo Essay
A special section highlighting the Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program, including the photo essay, "Visualizing Trachoma in Sudan."

June 1, 2002
Trachoma Control Program: Jim Zingeser Profile
A profile of Dr. Jim Zingeser, originally published in The Carter Center News, Jan.-June 2002.