The Fred Hollows Foundation has welcomed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) confirmation that Papua New Guinea (PNG) has eliminated the eye disease trachoma as a public health problem.
A media release said the foundation had helped drive the final push to eliminating the disease, with the support of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development following commitments made to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and the Australian Government through its NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Australia is the only developed country where it still occurs, affecting some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Efforts have seen the national trachoma prevalence rate in screened children aged five to nine fall from 14% in 2009 to 4.5% in 2019.
The disease thrives in areas where the water is scarce, and sanitation is poor. The infection is easily spread through personal contact and by flies that have been in contact with people’s eyes or noses. It disproportionately affects mothers and children.
Official recognition of its elimination in PNG was made during WHO’s 78th World Health Assembly held recently in Geneva, Switzerland, following a comprehensive review.
A WHO media release said that, unlike many other countries where trachoma elimination has required surgery campaigns, antibiotic mass drug administration and targeted improvements in access to water, sanitation and hygiene, PNG’s success was driven by robust disease surveillance.
The country’s National Department of Health, with support from partners, oversaw a series of rapid assessments, prevalence surveys, and community-level investigations. These efforts confirmed that community-wide interventions for trachoma were not warranted.
Foundation CEO Mr Ross Piper congratulated the PNG government and partners for working collectively to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem.
“Since 2018, The Fred Hollows Foundation has supported trachoma initiatives in Papua New Guinea in partnership with the National Department of Health and PNG Eye Care,” he said.
“This is a significant achievement that is only made possible through co-operation and collaboration from local through to international partners.”
Piper said the PNG government had played a leading role in driving trachoma elimination activities and ensuring efforts reached the most remote areas of the country.
“Our implementing partners, the National Department of Health and PNG Eye Care, have played a central role in driving the program forward, alongside our research partner, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“We’re also grateful for the strong technical and advocacy support provided by the World Health Organisation and the National Prevention of Blindness Committee, as well as survey support from the International Trachoma Initiative and Tropical Data.”
It said that foundational work, including trachoma rapid assessments conducted in 2012, laid the groundwork for success.
He acknowledged the contributions of the following organisations to trachoma efforts:
- The Brian Holden Vision Institute
- Collaborative Vision
- The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
- The Global Trachoma Mapping Project
- The PNG Institute of Medical Research
- Sightsavers
- The Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand.
The foundation’s trachoma co-ordinator, Dr Ana Cama, said: “Trachoma in Papua New Guinea is complex and presents atypically.
“Additional research and ancillary surveys looking at levels of scarring on the inner eyelid and limbal signs pathognomonic for trachoma in 10 to 14-year-old-children was crucial in understanding the picture of trachoma in the country and ultimately moving the country into drafting its dossier.”
The Pacific country manager, Ms Sara Webster, said: “Papua New Guinea’s journey to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem demonstrates that by working in partnership at the global and local levels, we can deliver results that have a lasting impact on people’s quality of life and wellbeing.”
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