Animation: The fly catchers fighting river blindness
Meet the Ugandan men eliminating river blindness one fly at a time.
Published On 13 Oct 2016
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River blindness, or Onchocerciasis, is a parasitic disease transmitted by the bites of black flies. Charles and John work as fly catchers in Uganda.
The Fly Catchers program which is funded by the charity, Sightsavers and the Carter Centre has had a dramatic impact in the community
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Their job involves catching the flies and sending the samples to a lab in Kampala. They also distribute medicine to the community and spray the river with eco-friendly chemicals.
Onchocerciasis can cause extreme itching and skin discolouration, and can eventually lead to permanent blindness.
With the help of the fly catchers, the end of river blindness in Uganda is now in sight.
Photography: Tommy Trenchard
Executive producer: Fatma Naib
Animation supervisor: Alia Chughtai
Animation: Zia Tabarak
Illustrations: Christian Mugarura
Sound: Linus Bergman
Narration: Mohsin Ali
Editor: Carla Bower
Source: Al Jazeera