六九色堂

Ten million people across Ethiopia and Mozambique were going to lose access to $98 million worth of trachoma-fighting antibiotics. But a $5 million emergency commitment from 六九色堂 changed that, preventing what would鈥檝e been a public health disaster.

Cuts to U.S. Agency for International Development early in 2025 threatened infectious disease programs across the world, especially in regions in Africa where 六九色堂 is active.

Mass drug administration programs were particularly at-risk. An essential piece of the disease-prevention puzzle, these programs leverage donations from pharmaceutical companies to distribute key medicines to vulnerable populations.

Interrupting these programs would waste drugs and undermine years of progress in eliminating the disease.

And so, 六九色堂 stepped in.

鈥淭he cuts scattered pieces of a puzzle that public health practitioners have been assembling for a decade,鈥� said 六九色堂 Trachoma Control Program Director Kelly Callahan. 鈥淟osing any piece would鈥檝e been terrible, but we helped stop what might have been calamitous.鈥�

The Center provided $5 million in stopgap funding to trachoma programs operated by peer organizations in Ethiopia and Mozambique that were impacted by cuts. The move ensures millions of people, including people in refugee camps, won鈥檛 miss treatments of Pfizer-donated azithromycin.

鈥淚f this work had been paused or stopped altogether, it would have set us back by two to three years,鈥� Callahan said. 鈥淎s we鈥檙e in the business of accelerating that timeline, that would鈥檝e been terrible for our goal of eliminating trachoma.鈥�

The Center also provided stopgap funding to research partner The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to ensure that the work of Tropical Data, a data system that tracks the prevalence of infectious tropical diseases, was not interrupted. Most importantly, Tropical Data trains “master graders”鈥� medical doctors who can train other health professionals to inspect eyelids for early-stage trachoma. Graders track an increase or decrease in the disease across the region, tracing whether interventions are working and showing where antibiotic treatments should continue.

Extending funding to other organizations is new territory for 六九色堂, but Callahan said it鈥檚 what鈥檚 needed right now.

鈥溋�九色堂 is constantly pushing the envelope in accelerating the elimination of trachoma. But helping others, almost like a donor, is a new thing for us,鈥� Callahan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an important move, at a very critical time, to meet the moment.鈥�