The World Health Organization (WHO) has now recognised that India has successfully eliminated trachoma, a bacterial infection that affects the eyes, as a public health problem.
Key points
- India joins Nepal and Myanmar in the WHO South-East Asia Region and 19 other countries globally that have previously achieved this feat.
- Though trachoma is preventable, blindness from trachoma is extremely difficult to reverse.
- Trachoma continues to be a public health problem in 39 countries and is responsible for the blindness of about 1.9 million people. In 1963, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India initiated a trachoma control project with support from WHO and UNICEF.
- The community-based interventions to eliminate trachoma consisted of surgical treatment, topical antibiotic treatment, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives, along with health education promoting behavior change to decrease transmission.
- After the initiation of the National Program for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI) in 1976, trachoma control program activities were integrated with activities of NPCBVI and elimination efforts continued.
- In 2005, trachoma was responsible for 4% of all cases of blindness in India. By 2018, the prevalence of trachoma was down to 0.008%.
Trachoma
- Trachoma is a devastating eye disease caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.
- The infection spreads from person to person through contaminated fingers, fomites and flies that have come into contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person.
- Environmental risk factors for trachoma transmission include poor hygiene, overcrowded households, and inadequate access to water, and sanitation facilities.
