Date of Completion: September 2021 Funder: Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD), funded at The Task Force for Global Health primarily by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, by the UK aid from the British government, and by the United States Agency for International Development through its Neglected Tropical Diseases Program. Aim: Explore the impact of Trachomatous Trichiasis (TT) on common mental disorders such as depression, anxiety an

Date of Start: May 2021 Date of Completion: Ongoing Funder: Eyu-Ethiopia, Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP), and Esillor Group Aim Establish self-reliant near vision impairment management services in rural Ethiopia through (a) integrated distribution of near vision correction spectacles by primary health care cadres, and (b) community contribution to the cost of spectacles. Background Presbyopia, an age-related near vision impairment (NVI), is one of the leading causes of vis

Date of Start: March 2021 Date of Completion: June 2025 Funder: The National Institute of Health to Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology, San Francisco, California, USA. Aim: Determine whether three additional targeted azithromycin treatments administered to 2-9 years children is more effective than annual community MDA only at achieving complete elimination of trachoma after 3 years. Background Since 2007, the Amhara National Regional State Health Bure

Date of Start : November 2022 Date of Completion: February 2028 Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Aim: Develop an enhanced monitoring system for Ethiopia's "Child MDA" program to accelerate trachoma elimination. Background : Ethiopia is implementing more frequent than annual (MFTA) azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA), including an additional ‘child MDA’ for children aged 1–9 years, to accelerate trachoma elimination in persistent districts. However, evidence f

Date of Start: September 2021 Date of Completion: December 2027 Funder: Wellcome Trust UK Aim: Identify a package of feasible and effective interventions for mainstreamed primary eye health care (PEHC) service delivery within PHC in a low-income setting, in Sidama region, Ethiopia. Background: There is limited evidence from low-income settings on how to effectively and sustainably integrate primary eye care (PEC) into primary health care (PHC). This project uses a four-phase,

Date of start: September 2024 Date of completion: December 2027 Funder: Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) Aim: Investigate why the prevalence of trachoma remains above elimination threshold in Ethiopia despite several years of implementation of the WHO-recommended control strategy and identify novel, context-specific and effective interventions to facilitate elimination. Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a goal to eliminate trachoma as a publi