India has eliminated trachoma: WHO
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the Government of India has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem becoming the third country in South-East Asia to achieve the milestone.
Trachoma is a bacterial infection that affects the eyes. It is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Trachoma is contagious, spreading through contact with the eyes, eyelids, nose or throat secretions of infected people. If left untreated it causes irreversible blindness.
WHO has termed trachoma as a neglected tropical disease. According to the WHO, 150 million people worldwide are affected by trachoma and 6 million of them are blind or at risk of visually disabling complications.
Trachoma is found in underprivileged communities living in poor environmental conditions. Trachoma was amongst the leading causes of blindness in the country from 1950-60. The Government of India launched the National Trachoma Control Programme in 1963 and later on trachoma control efforts were integrated into India’s National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB).
“In 1971, blindness due to trachoma was 5 per cent and today, owing to the various interventions under the National Programme for Control of Blindness & Visual Impairment (NPCBVI), it has come down to less than 1 per cent. WHO SAFE strategy was implemented throughout the country wherein SAFE stands for adoption of surgery, antibiotics, facial hygiene, environmental cleanliness, etc. As a result, in 2017, India was declared free from infectious trachoma. However, surveillance continued for trachoma cases in all the districts of India from 2019 onwards till 2024,” a statement from the Union health ministry said.
The National Trachomatous Trichiasis (TT only) Survey was also carried out in 200 endemic districts of the country under NPCBVI from 2021-24, which was a mandate set by WHO in order to declare that India has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem.
