Tag Archives: ITI

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.

 

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.



Night 6: Trachoma

NTDs, NTDs and Hannukah 2009, Water and Sanitation, , , SAFE, , trichiasis, , , Erin Hohlfelder

Ever had an eyelash in your eye?  It’s a common–and really painful–experience that almost everyone can relate to.  Now think of the pain experienced in the few minutes until you can remove the eyelash, but multiply it by thousands, and you’ll come close to understanding the pain caused by trachoma long before it even reaches its most well-known manifestation: blindness.

Trachoma - baby with fliesA 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.

Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. More than 84 million people in 56 countries worldwide have active trachoma, and an estimated eight million have lost their sight due to complications from the disease.

Treatment for trachoma focuses on active symptom elimination and future prevention efforts. A major comprehensive public health strategy approved by the World Health Organization, called SAFE, is underway to treat trachoma epidemics in rural Africa and other parts of the developing world. The combination of surgery (S), antibiotics–typically azyithromycin/Zithromax (A), facial cleanliness (F) and environmental educational efforts (E) is a multi-pronged approach to the disease and has shown promising results.

Between 1999 and 2006, nearly 41 million antibiotic treatments for blinding
trachoma were administered worldwide.  For more information, visit organizations like the International Trachoma Initiative and Helen Keller International.