This project is supported by the L'OCCITANE Foundation.
Context
According to the WHO, onchocerciasis (also known as ‘River Blindness’) affects more than a billion people worldwide. Africa bears almost the entire global burden of onchocerciasis; “more than 99% of infected people live in 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa”. This infection is spread through the bite of a black fly which lives and breeds near lakes and rivers. Once bitten, the adult parasite produces larvae which migrate to the skin, eyes and other organs. When these die, this causes inflammation and if this happens behind the eye, this can lead to blindness.
In Burkina Faso, this disease is still rife in some areas and many partners are working to eliminate the disease so that it is no longer a public health problem.
Supported project
Since 2022, the L’OCCITANE Foundation has been continuing to support Sightsavers’ project to eliminate the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) onchocerciasis (River Blindness) in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso. This is one of the two regions in the country where river blindness is still endemic. The project being supported is demonstrating community-centred, scalable approaches to the provision of drugs (through Mass Drug Administration), surgery, technical material and training, which can be replicated across the country.
Some Figures
Budget 185,000 euros
Result 180,000 administered treatments
History of Partnership
Project supported since 2013
Since 2013, the L'OCCITANE Foundation has supported the actions of the NGO Sightsavers to eliminate onchocerciasis and trachoma in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso. This project particularly puts into practice the control strategies recommended by the WHO. Between 2013 and 2021, L'Occitane Foundation has donated more than 880,000€ to Sigthsavers to fight against those two diseases, which enabled them to hand out more than 640,000 treatments against onchocerciasis.
Since 2022, cases of trachoma have significantlty deacreased and the disease is not considered endemic anymore, but we are still supporting Sigthsavers in its efforts to fight against onchocerciasis and to strenghten the eye health system in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso.
You can find out more information about this partnership here.
