Managed by World Vision

Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries in the world, with the resources of Ethiopia being primarily agricultural and of a subsistence nature. Of Ethiopia’s population of 65 million, 900,000 people are blind and 80% of these cases could have been prevented. An additional 3-4 million people currently have impaired vision and unless quality eye care is made available, they too are at risk of going prematurely blind.

In Ethiopia, cataract and trachoma constitute 70% of all cases of blindness with the leading causes of childhood blindness being Vitamin A deficiencies, measles, accidents, infections, trachoma and harmful traditional medicines.

Eye care in Ethiopia The Ethiopian government adopted a new national health policy in 1993, prioritising preventative healthcare, however, due to the poor internal infrastructure primary health services only cover half of the population. In rural Ethiopia, just one ophthalmologist and 73 ophthalmic nurses serve 6 million people.

Because of this, World Vision is working closely with government health departments, schools and communities in a number of different regions of Southern Ethiopia to improve access to basic health care. World Vision Australia’s trachoma prevention and control programs across Ethiopia touch a total population of over 300,000 people, which provides a great example of the reach of such projects.