Partners In Health Ebola Response

Above: Unlike many residents of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Kadiatu survived Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Then her vision began to fail.

Our efforts to tackle the Ebola virus in West Africa were among the most challenging in our history. When the number of new Ebola cases finally dropped in Sierra Leone, it was a welcome relief.

But soon we learned of a new problem facing Ebola survivors. An increasing number suffered from an eye disease called uveitis, an inflammation of the eye that, if left untreated, can lead to blindness.

Thousands of people had survived one of the worst epidemics in the world, only to face the loss of their vision.

We needed to find as many Ebola survivors as possible and screen them for uveitis. Roughly 100 of our community health workers, many of them Ebola survivors themselves, fanned out across the district in which we work to spread the word about uveitis and its risks.

Going house to house, they convinced neighbors and community members wary of doctors and hospitals to come to an eye clinic we had established with the Ministry of Health. In just one month, we screened 277 people and successfully treated 50 more for uveitis.

Based on our success, we worked with government and international partners to expand this work nationally. In June, we coordinated screenings and treatments for Ebola survivors across the country, in every district. Again, our community health workers proved vital in finding these survivors and getting them to treatment. Ultimately, we screened 3,058 Ebola survivors and treated 379 for uveitis.

We're proud to invite you to read more about our work post-Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and Liberia -- as well as in 8 other countries around the world -- in our 2016 Annual Report, available here: https://medium.com/partnersinhealth/2016annualreport-ec30bf1a337d

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Links:

• Partners In Health 2016 Annual Report