(THE GIST OF PIB) Trachoma

(JUNE-2025)

Recently, in the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme, the Prime Minister of India said that India has been declared free of Trachoma — an eye disease.

It is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Chlamydia Trachomatis which 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.
It is found in communities who are living in poor environmental conditions.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed Trachoma as a neglected tropical disease and its estimation suggests that 150 million people worldwide are affected by Trachoma.

The Government of India launched the National Trachoma Control Program in 1963 and later on Trachoma control efforts were integrated into India’s National Program for Control of Blindness (NPCB).
As a result, in 2017, India was declared free from infectious However, surveillance continued for trachoma cases in all the districts of India from 2019 onwards till 2024.
The National Trachomatous Trichiasis (TT only) Survey was also carried out in 200 endemic districts of the country under National Programme for Control of Blindness & Visual Impairment (NPCBVI) from 2021-24, which was a mandate set by WHO in order to declare that India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem.
To eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, WHO recommends the SAFE strategy.
The SAFE strategy includes: Surgery to treat the blinding stage (trachomatous trichiasis); Antibiotics to clear the infection, particularly the antibiotic azithromycin; Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement, particularly improving access to water and sanitation.