Door-to-Door Campaign Expands Protection Against River Blindness

In Yemen, a nationwide effort is bringing treatment to remote communities for a severe form of onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, reducing suffering and advancing progress toward elimination.

“For decades entire families lived with sowda without ever receiving treatment, and this campaign fundamentally changed that reality,” said Dr Ali Al-Waleedi, Deputy Minister for the Primary Health Care Sector.

Across 16 high-priority districts, community teams achieved 91% coverage in Hajjah and Al-Mahweet and 86.5% in Taiz, distributing more than 732,000 donated tablets with support from over 419 volunteers, many of them women, helping protect hundreds of thousands of people from infection and sustain momentum toward national elimination targets by 2030 despite conflict and resource constraints.