Work on ‘neglected’ diseases affecting millions honoured with OBE
A TRAILBLAZER who splits his time between Wester Ross and Ghana has been acknowledged by the King for his work to eliminate neglected tropical diseases.
Simon Bush, Sightsavers’ director of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours List.
The award recognises leadership and global health success in supporting ministries of health to eliminate neglected tropical diseases.
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The OBE recognises his services to the control and elimination of a diverse group of conditions which affect more than a billion people worldwide and can cause severe impairment and even death.
During Bush’s leadership, Sightsavers has supported Ghana, The Gambia, Malawi, Benin, Mali and Pakistan to eliminate the blinding disease trachoma, with more countries expected to announce eliminations in 2025 and 2026.
Because of treatment through Sightsavers' programmes, more than 100 million people no longer risk losing their health, education or earning potential to these preventable diseases.
Bush, who has worked at Sightsavers for 26 years, said: “I’m so proud to read ‘neglected tropical diseases' in the King's birthday honours. It recognises an extraordinary global health success story that goes far beyond my own work.
“Together we are eliminating devastating diseases like trachoma, which turns the lashes inwards so that they scrape against the eye, and lymphatic filariasis, which causes painfully swollen limbs.
“There are so many people dedicated to eliminating and controlling these horrific diseases. This award is also a recognition of the brilliant Sightsavers’ teams who have spent decades working on NTDs as well as our partners in ministries of health and countless community health workers.”
He leads Sightsavers’ work to control and eliminate five of the 21 neglected tropical diseases: trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), schistosomiasis (snail fever/ bilharzia) and intestinal worms.
The OBE comes as Sightsavers celebrates 75 years working with governments and partners in more than 30 low and middle income countries across Africa and Asia to tackle avoidable blindness and neglected tropical diseases, and support people with disabilities to advocate for a more equal world.
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Bush was born in London, grew up in Hemel Hempstead and has lived and worked in Africa and the Middle East since 1983, with postings to the West Bank and Gaza, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho and Sudan. He has lived in Ghana for 26 years. Since 2018 he has had a home in Achiltibuie and now splits his time between Ghana and Scotland.
After studying African politics and history at Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University), he began his career teaching in Sudan before taking up an appointment at the Ministry of Education in Khartoum and the Sudanese Embassy in London, managing teacher recruitment.
He joined Sightsavers in 1999 as the regional director for West Africa where he turned his skills for building partnerships and understanding policy, towards public health issues like eye care and neglected tropical diseases.
He became Sightsavers’ director for NTDs in 2011, served as president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene between 2022-23 and as chair of the NTD NGDO network, an organisation that brings together non-governmental organisations working to eliminate and control NTDs.
Sightsavers is an international organisation working with governments and partners in more than 30 low- and middle-income countries across Africa and Asia to:
• tackle avoidable blindness and vision impairment, including cataract and refractive errors such as short-sightedness treat and eliminate neglected tropical diseases, and create a more equal world where people with disabilities can access health care, education and employment without discrimination.
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