• World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus awarded India the Certificate of Elimination of Trachoma as a public health problem at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

• On October 8, 2024 the World Health Organisation declared that the government of India has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the third country in the region after Nepal and Myanmar to achieve this feat.

Key facts about Trachoma:

• 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.

• Environmental risk factors for trachoma transmission include poor hygiene, overcrowded households, and inadequate access to water, and sanitation facilities.

• Repeated infections in childhood lead to scarring of the inner side of the upper eyelids, resulting in inward turning of the eyelid margin, with the eyelashes touching the eyeball. This is a painful condition known as trachomatous trichiasis.

• WHO has termed trachoma as a neglected tropical disease. 

• WHO estimates suggest that 150 million people worldwide are affected by trachoma and six 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 India during 1950-60. 

• The government of India launched the National Trachoma Control Program in 1963 and later on trachoma control efforts were integrated into India’s National Program 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 ‘infective trachoma’. However, surveillance continued for trachoma cases in all the districts of India from 2019 onwards till 2024.

• 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.

• Globally, India joined 19 other countries that have been validated by WHO for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store