Countries, partners, and donors are committed to the global elimination of blinding trachoma by 2020. Achieving this public health milestone requires more than funding; it requires health personnel with the right mix of skills, and well supported and managed health systems. Mass drug administra...tion (MDA) with Zithromax®, the Pfizer, Inc. donated antibiotic, is a key component of the SAFE strategy, endorsed by the World Health Organization. There is growing recognition that improving all aspects of MDA, from planning to training, recording to reporting, and receipt of drug to distribution (the supply chain), will be necessary if MDA programmes are going to reduce the community burden of Chlamydia trachomatis, and eliminate trachoma as a cause of blindness by 2020. more

Trichiasis is when the eyelashes turn inward towards the eye and scratch the eye. All the lashes may turn in and rub, or it may be just a few eyelashes. The person with trichiasis usually feels pain, like something is in the eye before the vision is damaged, blindness will be prevented.

A key component of elimination is to reduce the number of unmanaged trachomatous trichiasis cases to less than 1 per 1,000 population in affected areas. This will require not only a large increase in the number of surgeries performed, but also improvements in the quality of surgery and in the e...fficiency of surgery provision programs. It also will require that we make special efforts to reach out to women and the most marginalized populations, who are disproportionally affected by trichiasis (TT). more

The WHO estimates that 19 million children aged 15 years or younger are visually impaired. Of these, 1.4 million are irreversibly blind and need visual rehabilitation interventions for full psychological and personal development. The remainder have visual problems that could be prevented or treated.... Identifying children with visual problems early in life so that they can benefit from medical and optical interventions remains a key challenge for most child eye health programmes. Reports from various low-and middle-income countries indicate that the age of children undergoing operation for cataract is frequently too high to achieve maximum benefit. more