Global Fight Against Blindness Reaches Historic Turning Point

For the first time since global tracking began, fewer than 100 million people worldwide now require interventions against trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness.

“The reduction of the population requiring interventions against trachoma to below 100 million is a testament to strong country leadership and consistent implementation of the SAFE strategy,” said Dr Daniel Ngamije Madandi, Director of WHO’s Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Department.

This progress reflects decades of coordinated action using the WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy: Surgery to treat advanced disease, Antibiotics to clear infection, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvement to reduce transmission. Since 2002, the number of people at risk has fallen by 94%, supported by national health ministries, community programmes, global partnerships, and large-scale medicine donations. With 27 countries already validated as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, the world is moving steadily toward the goal of ending the disease globally by 2030.