Trachoma- caused by bacteria and spreads by transfer of infected eye and nose secretions from person to person. Repeated infection leads to Trichiasis – where the eyelids turn in and eyelashes scrape the eyeball, causing great pain and often permanent blindness. The disease causes physical distress and sufferers are often stigmatized and isolated. Beyond this, the economic burden of trachoma on affected individuals and communities costs US$ 8 billion annually (source: WHO).

Trachoma is one of the oldest recorded diseases in the world but poverty, social myths, lack of education and access to hygiene facilities has made fighting this disease challenging. Africa has close to 21 million Trachoma sufferers and in some areas the active disease is present in more than 50% of children within the ages of 1-9. (Source: WHO). As it’s a communicable disease, it creates a vicious cycle spreading through households and communities for generations. Debilitating in its advance stages, Trachoma sufferers heavily rely on the ones who take care of them as they are unable to do even the smallest of chores. Many are abandoned by their families, especially women sufferers who then rely on their children as primary care-takers, thereby exposing them to the disease.

Lifebuoy created the Super School of 5 (SSo5), an initiative designed to educate school children on Trachoma prevention by the simple, affordable habit of washing hands and face with soap. Sightsavers brought the crucial integration of face-washing into the curriculum. The program encouraged hand and face washing with soap at 5 key occasions that helped in building recall and cultivating washing as a habit and routine. The 21 day school program consisted of 4 pillars – awareness, commitment, re-enforcement and reward. Against each pillar materials like posters, pledges, diaries were created. The materials were designed to be engaging and aid comprehension through comic characters. While children are the most susceptible to the disease they also acted as champions and carriers of this education within their homes and communities.

Trachoma thrives in one of the most challenging geographies, Africa. Tackling it required us to be co-partners with the right organizations to bring about transformational change while also contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. Sightsavers is an organization that has been working to prevent blindness from avoidable causes. As a part of their vision, they have been working in Africa to control the impact and spread of Trachoma. Sightsavers brought its technical and on-ground expertise, while Lifebuoy channeled decades of programmatic experience to create a tailor-made program to fight Trachoma in Africa. Together a face and handwashing educational program in line with the World Health Organization’s SAFE strategy was disseminated in schools. Also critical to the acceptance and successful implementation of the program, was partnering with local community stakeholders like education and health department heads and school staff.

The SSo5 program was conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia over a period of 2 years. We first educated community stakeholders and empowered teachers to successfully launch the program in schools. Champion teachers were trained to lead and run the program. The 21 day program aimed at creating a hand and face washing routine amongst children. Teachers led lessons with flipcharts that had comic characters bringing educational messages to life. Glow germ demos created awareness about germ transmission. A 21 day hand and face wash diary with soap samples were given to students to track progress. Engaging posters were placed in classrooms, toilets and wash areas. A pledge was created to help children commit to the program. To reward efforts, teachers were given appreciation certificates and students were given wristbands, pencils, etc. The ‘best school’ also received a water poly tank which acted as an added incentive to drive participation.

1. Together Lifebuoy reached 247 schools, 2288 teachers, 334,954 students and an additional 727,572 people in the community.

2. In schools where Lifebuoy conducted programs the brand witnessed,

a. 6X increase in all washing events

b. 43% improvement in simultaneous hand and face-washing events

c. 68% improvement in washing hands with soap

3. Supported by other activities and the local government there has been an average 30% reduction in the prevalence of trachoma in Turkana, Kenya.

4. The success of the program at the current scale has gained the interest of the Ethiopian government who is working closely with Lifebuoy and other organizations to institutionalize the program nationally in school curriculums in the future.