Buckingham Palace reveals Duchess Sophie's 'ambition'

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, as Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), visited Tanzania to celebrate collaboration between the UK and Tanzania on health, agriculture and women’s empowerment.

She visited a trachoma outreach camp at Mlandizi Health Centre, where she saw trachoma screenings and surgery and heard more about progress made to rid the country of the infectious and blinding disease.

Trachoma is an ancient disease which turns eyelashes inwards so that they scrape the eye permanently blind. People have described the pain similar to having thorns, grit or sand constantly in their eyes. If left untreated, repeated infections can lead to permanent blindness.

According to palace, the Duchess has set the 'ambition' for the elimination of trachoma across the Commonwealth by 2030.

The Duchess later also visited the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, meeting investigators, prosecutors and social welfare practitioners to hear about efforts to tackle child abuse in Tanzania and the care given to victims.