Innovations to Enhance Implementation of Trachoma Intervention in Tanzania

Programme title: Innovations in Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases

Project title: Innovations to Enhance Implementation of Trachoma Intervention in Tanzania

Description: Innocent Semali of Hubert Kairuki Memorial University in Tanzania will design a more effective strategy for eliminating trachoma in the nomadic Maasai communities in Tanzania. Trachoma is a bacterial disease and a leading cause of blindness. Globally, there are around 84 million sufferers, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, the standard control strategy, which involves mass drug administration of azithromycin, eliminated trachoma from most districts. However, the strategy has largely failed in nomadic populations for unclear reasons. To identify those reasons, they will work towards building a partnership with a Maasai community and relevant stakeholders and use interviews and surveys to document their perceptions and behaviors around the standard trachoma interventions. This information will be used to understand the failure of the previous interventions and, together with the communities and stakeholders, to develop new strategies for testing in two villages using a mixed methods approach.

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania