Infectious diseases
Trachoma and women: latrines in Ethiopia and surgery in Southern Sudan
Latrines and surgery as a way of reducing trachoma in Ethiopia and Southern Sudan
Authors:
P. M. Emerson; L. Rotondo
Publisher:
Community Eye Health Journal, 2009
Trachoma is an infectious disease of the eye caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Bacteria can spread via an infected person’s hands or clothing and may be carried by flies that have come into contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person. This brief article in Community Eye Health Journal considers the use of pit latrines in Ethiopia as a way of reducing trachoma. The authors show how using a household latrine as opposed to wooded areas, reduced the population of flies transmitting the bacteria that cause trachoma.
Their research shows that women have actively led the latrine construction movement. In addition, the privacy provided by the latrines also allowed women the freedom to relieve themselves when they needed to during the day and improved their safety as they no longer had to go far from their homes after dark. This helped to address some of the inequalities women faced in their homes and communities. The document also outlines the potential for surgery in Southern Sudan as a treatment for trachoma. The authors offer various ways forward including outreach campaigns that can be organised in schools, religious centres, and other buildings. Women can be specifically targeted. Campaigns must be carefully planned and should include extensive information campaigns, adequate quantities of consumable and non-consumable equipment, and participation by surgeons who are willing and able to operate on many patients each day.
