Join a powerful, unprecedented alliance for better eye health for all.
Join IAPB-
Choose an alternate language here
Press Release 6th June: The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is celebrating the expansion of its Trachoma Initiative in Uganda. Due to the significant progress being made towards trachoma elimination, the Trust, with support from Lions Clubs International Foundation and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), is now expanding its Initiative into 14 new districts in the East, West and North of Uganda.
The celebratory event, took place in Lira on 6th June, and was attended by senior country officials including representatives from the Ministry of Health and other key partners involved in the delivery of the Trust’s Trachoma Initiative in Uganda.
Trachoma is caused by a bacterium called chlamydia trachomatis which causes repeated conjunctivitis, and is spread by close contact with an infected person or through transmission by eye-seeking flies. It is most commonly found in poor, rural communities where people have limited access to clean water and healthcare.
Uganda is a trachoma-endemic country in east Africa where an estimated 10 million people are at risk of developing the disease. The Trust’s Trachoma Initiative was launched in Uganda in November 2014 and to date has treated 25,650 people with surgery for trachoma trichiasis, the final, most painful and ultimately blinding stage of the disease. The programme will now be expanded in 14 districts across Uganda where work will be undertaken to:
To read more visit: http://www.jubileetribute.org/news/2017/celebrating-success-on-the-road-to-national-trachoma-elimination-in-uganda
Vanuatu has been validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.
