WHO declares India eliminated Trachoma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem, becoming the third country in the Southeast Asia region to achieve this milestone.

An official Certification was handed over to Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by Saima Wazed, Regional Director, WHO South East Asia, during the WHO’s South East Asia Region, Regional Committee meeting held at New Delhi, on Tuesday.

Trachoma is a bacterial infection that affects the eyes. It is contagious, spreading through contact with the eyes, eyelids, nose, or throat secretions of infected people, if left untreated it causes irreversible blindness.

WHO estimates suggest that 150 million people worldwide are affected by Trachoma and six million of them are blind or at risk of visually disabling complications. Trachoma is found in underprivileged communities living in poor environmental conditions.

Trachoma was among the leading causes of blindness in India During 1950-60, after which the government of India launched the National Trachoma Control Program in 1963.

In 1971, blindness in India due to Trachoma was 5% and today, owing to the various interventions under the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment, it has come down to less than 1%.

In 2017, India was declared free from infectious Trachoma. However, surveillance continued for trachoma cases in all the districts of India from 2019 onwards till 2024.

The National Trachomatous Trichiasis  Survey was also carried out in 200 endemic districts of the country from 2021-24, which was a mandate set by WHO in order to declare that India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem.

All the reports were compiled in a specific dossier format and shared with the WHO for final scrutiny. Finally, after years of fighting against Trachoma, WHO declared that India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem.