Can blinding trachoma be eliminated by 20/20?

Abstract

Trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world today. Long ago eliminated in North America and Europe, the disease is almost unknown, and indeed forgotten, in the West. Nevertheless, it continues to wreak havoc in the poorest parts of Africa, Asia, and other areas throughout the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are currently 7.6 million people who are visually impaired due to trachoma, and 84 million people with active infections. In 1998, WHO passed a resolution calling for member states to take action to eliminate blinding trachoma by the year 2020. The scale of what must be accomplished in order to reach this goal is daunting. However, the work of the International Trachoma Initiative together with national governments as well as other organizations in applying the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy for trachoma control has produced critical successes in challenging settings. This paper gives a brief history and description of trachoma, explains treatment options and the SAFE strategy, and discusses successes from two trachoma control programmes as examples of how to move forward in eliminating this devastating disease.