End Trachoma by 2020? We think it’s possible.

A woman participates in a Mass Drug Administration supported by IMA World Health in Tanzania.

Christopher Glass/IMA

Click here for more information about the International Coalition for Trachoma Campaign.

IMA World Health has joined the International Coalition for Trachoma Control in their campaign to eliminate Trachoma by 2020.

Currently through a grant from the USAID NTD Control Program, IMA is supporting the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) to address Trachoma as part of the country’s Neglected Tropical Disease Control program.

Treatment and control of the disease is done through implementing elements of the WHO endorsed SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facewashing, and Environment) strategy. IMA assists the MOHSW in conducting Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in which the target population takes an annual combination of drugs through the schools and communities to prevent and control NTDs including Trachoma.

Trachoma is the result of an eye infection that is spread from person to person. It’s commonly passed from child to child and child to mother, especially where there are water shortages, numerous flies, and crowded living conditions.

Infection often begins during childhood and if left untreated, it can lead to irreversible blindness between 30 and 40 years of age.