In the latest issue of “NTD News for Africa,” an electronic newsletter that disseminates the latest breakthroughs and advances in the field of NTDs, a study about the cost of implementing the Surgery, Antibiotics, Face Washing, and Environmental Change (SAFE) strategy, comprehensive treatment for trachoma, was highlighted. The study conducted surveys in regions of Africa were trachoma was found present to determine how SAFE should be implemented, and to identify the financial costs associated with implementation. The study published by PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases found that trachoma prevalence surveys are not as financial restrictive as initially thought. The study also recommends cost-efficient solutions to administering the surveys such as surveying several districts and regions at once, and also through careful planning, costs can also be diminished.
Read the full article here on the PLoS website.
A single exposure to trachoma bacterium does not in itself cause blindness. Repeated exposure to the disease — through person-to-person contact or infected flies — over time eventually causes the inside of the eyelid to turn inward — a condition called trichiasis — and the eyelashes to scrape and scar the cornea, leading to the formation of corneal opacities and painful and irreversible blindness. Trachoma is particularly common in children under five and the adults – mainly women – who care for them. In some rural communities, 60 – 90 percent of children are infected. Adult women are three times more likely to develop the blindness associated with trachoma, attributed in part to their caretaking of very young children.
