Saving Paolo's sight

Luckily for Paolo, it was caught in time. He was diagnosed with trachoma during a training course for Tropical Data ‘master trainers’. Tropical Data is an innovative programme that uses mobile data to track trachoma around the world, so that Sightsavers and partners can find and treat it.

Master trainers are responsible for training trainers across a whole country. This particular group had travelled to Tanzania to upgrade their skills so they could then return to their countries and train others on how to identify trachoma. They came from many of the countries Sightsavers works in, including Sudan, Yemen, and Ethiopia.

To complete the training course, the Tropical Data master trainers had to correctly identify whether trachoma was present in the eyes of 50 children, by examining their eyelids and comparing them to a small circular, red sticker with five white dots, which are used to help identify what trachoma follicles would look like if present.

It was thanks to this training that Paolo was diagnosed, giving his family an explanation for his suffering. Paolo’s mum was given medicine to treat his trachoma infection, saving them the difficult 30km journey to the nearest hospital.