WHO Certifies India as free from Trachoma as a Public Health Problem

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has formally awarded India the Certificate of Elimination of Trachoma as a Public Health Problem. Last year, on 8th October, the WHO declared India, along with Myanmar and Nepal, a trachoma-free country. 

The Certificate was handed to India at the 78th World Health Assembly of the WHO in Geneva on 20th May 2025.

78th World Health Assembly of the WHO 

The World Health Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the WHO, and it is held annually at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

• It is attended by all 194 member countries of the WHO.
• The 78th World Health Assembly is being held in Geneva from 19-27 May 2025. 
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the 78th World Health Assembly on 20th May 2025.
• The theme of the 78th World Health Assembly is -One World for Health.

What is Trachoma?

Trachoma is a highly infectious eye disease caused by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria. It spreads from one infected person to another through:

• contaminated fingers,
• Sharing or use of clothes, utensils, and furniture of infected persons.
• Through flies that have come into contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person.
• Overcrowded households, poor hygienic conditions, and inadequate access to water and sanitation facilities.

Repeated infection with trachoma can cause the infected person's eyelashes to touch the eyeballs, and if left untreated, it can result in visual impairment and blindness.

This painful condition is known as trachomatous trichiasis.

Government Policy against Trachoma 

The Government of India, with the help of the WHO and UNICEF, launched the National Trachoma Control Program in 1963.

 The National Trachoma Control Programme was merged with the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI), which was launched in 1976. 

The Government adopted WHO’s SAFE strategy, which included: 

• S- Surgery; 
• A-Antibiotics to clear the infection
• F- Facial cleanliness, and 
• E- Environmental cleanliness, access to clean water and sanitation.

19 Trachoma Free Countries

According to the World Health Organisation, 19 countries have successfully eliminated trachoma as a public health problem are:  Benin, Cambodia, China, Pakistan, Gambia, Ghana, Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Malawi, Nepal, Oman, Mali, Saudi Arabia, Togo, and Vanuatu.

World Health Organisation 

Established on 7 April 1948

It is an agency of the United Nations.

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland 

Members: 194 countries 

Director General :  Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

 Also Read: 

WHO declares outbreak of wild polio virus in Papua New Guinea