Progress in the Fight Against Trachoma
Posted on May 23, 2010
Topic: Advocacy/Vision 2020
Significant progress in the fight against Trachoma is shown in the recent WHO report, Trachoma: Global Magnitude of a Preventable Cause of Blindness, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Now 40.6 million people are estimated to be suffering from active trachoma, down from an estimated 84 million in 2003. Success in implementing the SAFE control strategy, more accurate data, and socio-economic development are among the reasons for the improvement. The full article is available at: bjo.bmj.com/content/93/5/563.full.
The Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma by the year 2020 (GET 2020), met recently in Geneva to track progress and plan for the future. The group reviewed the progress of some 45 countries with endemic Trachoma including three countries - Ghana, Morocco and Oman - whose recent campaigns now seem to have successfully eliminated Trachoma.
The ICO Bahrain Declaration on Trachoma and Trichiasis Surgery was also adopted at the meeting. The ICO Declaration (PDF - 644 KB), reaffirms the importance of trichiasis surgery to treat Trachoma.
