Fighting Against Trachoma:

Introduction: Trachoma is a tropical infectious disease caused by the bacterium C.trachomatis and continues to plague many regions of the globe, especially among the vulnerable communities in low income countries with poor health and hygiene standards. It is a bacterial infection that predominantly occurs in the eye, provoking significant pain and, in case of the untreated situation, results in blindness. Thus, trachoma remains one of the world’s most pressing public health concerns, despite being an illness that can be eradicated and cured entirely. This article seeks to discover the current situation of the trachoma disease, the measures that have been taken in the fight against this disease, and the main difficulties which have been encountered in the fight, with intentions to eradicate the mentioned disease.

Understanding Trachoma: It is an infection that is passed on through direct contact with the eye discharge from the affected persons or sharing items likely to have been used by the affected persons including towels and clothes. The disease’s symptoms become progressively worse and involve symptoms such as eye itching and tearing, progressing to limber and corneal ulcerations, and, ultimately, trichiasis, where the eyelashes turn inward and rub on the cornea. Blindness resulting from trachoma affects the ability of the affected persons to engage in any form of productive work as well as take care of themselves and their loved ones, thus perpetuating poverty in affected families and communities.

Global Efforts to Combat Trachoma: Thus, the major social actors – international organizations, governments, and non-profit organizations – have stepped up to address the threat posed by trachoma. undefined

Surgery: The director also pointed out that they are offering operations to fight trichiasis and thus prevent further damage to the cornea.

Antibiotics: Mass treatment, usually involving the administration of azithromycin, to the general population with a view of directly observing and treating those with active trachoma infection to reduce transmission.

Facial cleanliness: Educating people about proper facial washing to ensure that the infection does not escalate to the rest of the body.

Environmental improvements: Measures that deal with other conditions that cause transmission of Trachoma for instance inability to observe proper hygiene and clean water.

These efforts have made important advances over recent years due in particular to numerous countries attaining great decline on the prevalence of trachoma. But there is still an issue of how to get to the hard to reach populations, and develop sustainable funding and sustainable political will to support interventions, and addressing the various social factors that leads to the continuation of transmission of trachoma.

The Road Ahead: Although there is a tremendous drive to halt trachoma within the next fifteen years moving towards active surveillance, research, and involving the communities are vital. Programs with the ability to integrate to existing approaches within the health sectors and strong cooperation with stakeholders in those countries are likely to provide sustainable results. Furthermore, coordinating with other social economic determinants of the transmission of the disease such as poverty levels and gender disparities is also essential in the end game.

Conclusion: There is, however, much work yet to be done in eliminating trachoma, especially in low-income countries, but the message that has come out clearly is that trachoma remains a huge public health concern, yet it is a disease that is preventable if all the players provide the necessary efforts and investment. It is done by integrating implementation of the SAFE strategy and mitigating the social determinants of health which depicts the imaginable future where the blindness caused by trachoma no longer exists and more people have healthy vision hence a perfect world.