WHO announces progress with eliminating trachoma

New, as yet unpublished data, were presented on 27 June 2019 at the 22nd meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma by 2020 (GET2020). These data show that the number of people at risk of trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, has fallen from 1.5 billion in 2002 to just over 142 million in 2019, a reduction of 91%.

Trachoma is a disease of the eye caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Transmission occurs through contact with infective discharges from the eyes and nose, particularly in young children who harbour the main reservoir of infection. It is also spread by flies which have been in contact with the eyes and noses of infected people.

Source: WHO, 27 June 2019