Tag Archives: blindness

A Global Strategy to Eliminate Blinding Trachoma, A Disease Targeted by END7

Blindness, NTDs, Trachoma, Vision, , , , , ,

By: Elizabeth Kurylo, Communications manager, International Trachoma Initiative

Eliminating a disease is no small task. It helps to have a detailed plan. Partners working to eliminate blinding trachoma, one of the seven neglected tropical diseases targeted by , have such a plan. It’s called 2020 INSight: The End in Sight.

Produced by the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC), 2020 INSight is a global strategic plan with crucial next steps toward trachoma elimination by 2020.More than 2 million people are either blind or suffer excruciating pain because of trachoma. It makes one person experience severe sight loss every four minutes and blinds four people every hour.  Over 4.6 million are in the final, painful stages of this eye disease and require surgery to prevent them from going blind. It is endemic in at least 59 countries, in areas with limited access to water and sanitation.

A coordinated effort by governments, nongovernmental organizations, donors and other stakeholders is urgently needed to achieve the goal. Crucial next steps include the following:

  • Survey districts where trachoma is suspected to be endemic, so intervention can begin;
  • Dramatically improve access to clean water and latrines;
  • Increase global funding for trachoma control, including implementation of the SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvement);
  • Train teachers and other community leaders about facial cleanliness and better hygiene so they can spread the message in their communities;
  • Quickly address the backlog of 4.6 million people who need surgery to prevent blindness;
  • Identify support for more mass drug administration (MDA) programs to provide about 380 million more antibiotic treatments.

More than 80 percent of the burden of active trachoma is concentrated in 14 countries, where immediate action is needed. Eliminating the disease in Africa alone would boost the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP) 20-30 percentage points based on conservative annual productivity loss estimates.

Since 1998, Pfizer Inc has donated more than 225 million doses of the antibiotic Zithromax® to treat and prevent blinding trachoma. The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) manages the distribution of the medicine.

Get your copy of 2020 INSight at the ICTC website.

 

Jemma Kidd Make Up Jumping Into the Fight Against Trachoma

Blindness, NTDs, Trachoma, , NTD,

By: Alanna Shaikh

Inspired by a trip to Ethiopia with ORBIS, cosmetics maven Jemma Kidd will donate £1.50 for every product purchased to the fight against trachoma. The money will go to ORBIS’s efforts to fight trachoma in Ethiopia, helping to prevent blindness.

Trachoma is not one of those NTDs that you can have for a long time and not know it, not at all. Trachoma is an extremely painful bacterial infection of the eyes. Here, I’ll quote the press release from Jemma Kidd, “Trachoma is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the eyecausing inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids. If left untreated, it can turn the eyelid inward, causing the eyelashes to scar the delicate cornea, resulting in agonising pain and permanent blindness.” It makes me cringe just thinking about it. Trachoma spreads rapidly from person to person, through contacts as brief as shaking hands. It’s especially common in kids under five, and can lead to blindness in adulthood.[1] Continue reading →

Reading List 10/14/2011

NTDs, Trachoma, , handwashing, , ,

Happy Friday readers! End the week with the latest in global health and NTD news. Today we’re reading about:

Soap ‘n’ Water, please: campaign aims to make handwashing a habit in China
“A battalion of more than 300 hungry elementary school students storm toward the dining hall, eager to get their hands on mantou,or steamed bread. Washing their hands prior is required by teachers, but with only eight hand-washing stations, the words are ignored by many, because evidently, appetite trumps cleanliness. But there are some students at Zhongxun Elementary School in Dancun Town, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, realizing the importance of washing hands.”

Sydney University health fund to fight disease in East Timor
“The University of Sydney has established a charitable fund which will collaborate with the country’s Ministry of Health, the National University of East Timor and the World Health Organisation to help improve health care in a range of areas. The relationships already exist but this new fund will channel money into new and ongoing projects, including a focus on three common and debilitating infections.”

Jemma Kidd Speaks out About Unnecessary Blindness in Ethiopia and Launches the Jemma Kidd VISIONfund
“Moved and humbled by the fact that blinding diseases can be prevented for as little as 25p, founder of Jemma Kidd Make Up, Jemma Kidd, speaks out on the shocking reality that 10 million people in Ethiopia suffer from disease causing blindness and 100% needlessly so. During a recent trip to Ethiopia with sight-saving charity ORBIS, Jemma saw first-hand how a disease that is no longer prevalent in the West is devastating lives, leaving families and communities facing hardship, suffering and isolation, making every day a struggle to survive. Trachoma is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the eye, causing inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids. If left untreated, it can turn the eyelid inward, causing the eyelashes to scar the delicate cornea, resulting in agonising pain and permanent blindness.”

ITI – We Can Eliminate Trachoma

Trachoma, GET 2020, ,

The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) is a nonprofit created in 1998 in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) call to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020 (GET2020). Trachoma is an infectious disease of the eye and is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. It is also one of the most seven common neglected tropical diseases. The Fred Hollows Foundation (working within the International Coalition for Trachoma Control) produced an inspiring video for ITI, emphasizing the feasibility of eliminating this disease and bringing hope to those infected.