Summary
Trachoma is the main cause of infectious blindness in the world. Approximately 232 million people live in trachoma endemic areas and at risk of being infected. Australia is the only developed country where trachoma remains endemic, with the Indigenous communities suffering the heaviest burden of disease.
As part of the World Health Organization (WHO) GET2020 Alliance, the Australian government has invested large sums of money in the combat of thracoma as a public health concern. By adopting the SAFE (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleaning and environmental improvement) strategy recommended by the WHO, Australia adjusted the recommendations to the country needs and developed its own guidelines to tackle the different stages of the disease. …show more content…
Table 1 - WHO simplified grading system for trachoma
ACTIVE
STAGE
(infectious) GRADE CLINICAL SIGNS TF Trachomatous Inflammation-Follicular Presence of 5 or more follicles of >0.5mm in diameter on the upper tarsal conjunctiva TI Trachomatous Inflammation – Intense Presence of pronounced inflammatory thickening of the upper tarsal conjunctiva obscuring more than half of the normal deep tarsal vessels
CHRONIC
STAGE
(non-infectious) TS Trachomatous conjunctival Scarring Presence of easily visible scars on the upper tarsal conjunctiva TT Trachomatous Trichiasis Presence of at least one in-grown eyelash touching the eyeball, or evidence of recent removal of in-turned lashes CO Corneal Opacity Presence of corneal opacity blurring part of the pupil margin
Source: (Wright, Turner and Taylor, …show more content…
On these communities, trachoma constitutes 9% (Taylor et al., 2011) of the 94% vision loss that is preventable and accountable for 11% of the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Abouzeid, Anjou and Taylor, 2015).
In 2006 as a signatory of the WHO GET2020 Alliance for Elimination of trachoma, the Australian Government not only developed guidelines in context to the WHO SAFE strategy, but also funded the National Trachoma Surveillance Reporting Unit (NTSRU) to improve quality and consistency of data collection and annual reporting (Australian Department of Health, 2014). Even though these measures allowed a significant progress on the trachoma elimination (Taylor and Anjou, 2012) it remains unclear if the country will achieve the national goal of controlling trachoma by 2020 (Shattock et al.,
Trachoma is the main cause of infectious blindness in the world. Approximately 232 million people live in trachoma endemic areas and at risk of being infected. Australia is the only developed country where trachoma remains endemic, with the Indigenous communities suffering the heaviest burden of disease.
As part of the World Health Organization (WHO) GET2020 Alliance, the Australian government has invested large sums of money in the combat of thracoma as a public health concern. By adopting the SAFE (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleaning and environmental improvement) strategy recommended by the WHO, Australia adjusted the recommendations to the country needs and developed its own guidelines to tackle the different stages of the disease. …show more content…
Table 1 - WHO simplified grading system for trachoma
ACTIVE
STAGE
(infectious) GRADE CLINICAL SIGNS TF Trachomatous Inflammation-Follicular Presence of 5 or more follicles of >0.5mm in diameter on the upper tarsal conjunctiva TI Trachomatous Inflammation – Intense Presence of pronounced inflammatory thickening of the upper tarsal conjunctiva obscuring more than half of the normal deep tarsal vessels
CHRONIC
STAGE
(non-infectious) TS Trachomatous conjunctival Scarring Presence of easily visible scars on the upper tarsal conjunctiva TT Trachomatous Trichiasis Presence of at least one in-grown eyelash touching the eyeball, or evidence of recent removal of in-turned lashes CO Corneal Opacity Presence of corneal opacity blurring part of the pupil margin
Source: (Wright, Turner and Taylor, …show more content…
On these communities, trachoma constitutes 9% (Taylor et al., 2011) of the 94% vision loss that is preventable and accountable for 11% of the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Abouzeid, Anjou and Taylor, 2015).
In 2006 as a signatory of the WHO GET2020 Alliance for Elimination of trachoma, the Australian Government not only developed guidelines in context to the WHO SAFE strategy, but also funded the National Trachoma Surveillance Reporting Unit (NTSRU) to improve quality and consistency of data collection and annual reporting (Australian Department of Health, 2014). Even though these measures allowed a significant progress on the trachoma elimination (Taylor and Anjou, 2012) it remains unclear if the country will achieve the national goal of controlling trachoma by 2020 (Shattock et al.,