Carefully measured doses

El Tahir, a MDA public health volunteer, is shown here with his dosing stick and Zithromax® distributing carefully measured doses of Zithromax® to community members during the June 2013 MDA in El Saraf village. Teams of public health volunteers conduct MDAs by visiting each household throughout an entire village. Some villages have populations as large as 17,000 people. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.

Zeinab Abdalla (left), Project Officer with The Carter Center in Sudan, discusses the logistics involved in conducting a mass drug administration (MDA) with Birgit Bolton (middle), ITI Senior Program Associate, prior to going into the field with Dr. Balgesa Elkheir Elshafie (right), an ophthalmologist and National Coordinator of Sudan Trachoma Control Program, Federal Ministry of Health. The women are in Doka village. Photo courtesy of Ahmed, Doka Health Officer.

A woman from a village in Al Qadarif State receives a dose of four Zithromax® tablets during the June 2013 MDA.  Doses are calculated carefully by height using a dosing stick.  Some of the sub-districts of Al Qadarif State have documented TF as high of 34% which requires a 5 year MDA treatment cycle. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI. 

A MDA public health village volunteer (left), with Zeinab Abdalla (right), Project Officer for The Carter Center/MDA Supervisor, holds a dosing stick used to calculate accurate doses of Zithromax® during a MDA in Doka in El Doka village. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.

Atif Al Ameen Ahmed, Public Health Officer for the National Trachoma Control Program/MDA Supervisor and Majdi Mohamed, driver for the National Trachoma Control Program/Federal Ministry of Health, stand by the Stop Trachoma truck used to transport Zithromax® to villages that participated in the MDA in the Mahala sub-district, East El Galabatof Sudan. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.

Villagers in Al Qadarif State have participated in two previous MDAs (scheduled once a year) prior to the third MDA which took place June 2013.  Since this community was familiar with the program and understood the benefits of taking Zithromax®, there was 100% compliance during distribution.  Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.

Liquid for young ones

A MDA public health volunteer carefully adds water to the Pediatric Oral Suspension (POS) bottle to mix the powdered Zithromax® into a liquid for distribution to children deemed too small or young to swallow Zithromax® tablets.  

Proud mom

A Sudanese mother proudly shows off her infant in Doka village.  During this MDA the mother was treated with Zithromax® and her child received a tube of Tetracycline Eye Ointment (TEO) seen in the mother's left hand. TEO is given to infants under 6 months of age since they are too young to swallow Pediatric Oral Suspension or tablets. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.

Team in Basonda village

This is the MDA team in Basonda village. Appearing from left to right are Dr. Bilghesa El Khair- National Trachoma Control Program; Hider Mohammed – PHO/NTCP & MDA supervisor, Ali Mosa and Hashim Men Alla – drivers/NTCP; Mahjob Abdalla – local Basonda health officer; local health officer’s driver. The extraordinary dedication and hard work of everyone involved will ensure that Sudan reaches its goal of eliminating blinding trachoma by 2015. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.

Village hospital

The starkness of this village hospital tells a story about what medical care is like in rural Sudan. Photo by Birgit Bolton for ITI.