The International Trachoma Initiative and the Pfizer Inc. pharmaceutical company will donate 1.4 million doses of an oral antibiotic to the Tanzanian government to fight blindness in the African nation's children, the Associated Press reports.

The drug, Zithromax, will be distributed over 18 months to people living in regions where trachoma is prevalent, AP reports. The disease is a bacteria infection of the upper eyelid that can lead to the eye's cornea being permanently scratched.

The full donation from Pfizer has a retail value of $20 million. ITI -- established through a partnership between the Edna McConnell Foundation and Pfizer -- will donate $1.4 million over two years to organize the trachoma program, AP reports.

ITI will partner with Tanzania's Ministry of Health and seven non-governmental organizations in Tanzania.

Tanzanian women and children are most affected by the disease, AP reports. In some communities, six of every ten children are afflicted with trachoma.

Dr. Peter Kilima, the International Trachoma Initiative representative in Tanzania, says the disease is easily prevented by regular face washing.

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