River Blindness’s Foe: Uganda

In October 2024, Sani Kiri visited each household in his southwestern Ugandan community to deliver — one last time — the drug that prevents river blindness, a parasitic eye disease. Combined with health education, the drug distribution campaign has been so successful over the years that transmission of the disease has been halted in this area, known as Lhubiriha for river blindness tracking purposes.

It’s a success story that has been repeated in communities across Uganda. Back in 2007, the country declared its intent to eliminate river blindness — a radical statement at the time, because the scientific community believed the disease to be so pervasive that only the lesser standard of control was possible in most African countries. The Carter Center pledged its support for Uganda and has provided assistance and partnership year after year.

Fast forward to today: 15 of 17 areas identified in 2007 have eliminated the disease, according to standards set by the World Health Organization. And no active disease transmission is thought to be occurring in the remaining two areas, including Lhubiriha, which now enters a period of surveillance.

As a distributor for the medicine that prevents river blindness, Sani Kiri is working himself out of a job in Uganda. We’re happy to see it.