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January 2013 END TO BLINDING DISEASE IN SIGHT

Health measure: at a Sightsavers unit in Kenya, antibiotics needed

to fight eye desease are set by a child’s height.

Image: Kate Holt/Sightsavers

The UK government is giving 10.6 million pounds to a consortium working to wipe out a blinding disease devastating millions of the world’s poorest people.

The support will be critical in helping to find out where the most people at risk live – to ensure sight-saving treatment can reach them quickly.

UK scientists are leading the crucial work to wipe out trachoma, an illness affecting more than 21 million people. It is estimated that an additional 180 million worldwide live in areas where it is highly prevalent and are in danger of going blind.

Trachoma, caused by a bacterial infection, remains a significant threat in the developing world and is already confirmed as being endemic in 53 countries.

It is a disease of poverty that mainly affects people who live in hot, dry and dusty areas where there is poor availability of water and sanitation. Repeated infections, if untreated, can lead to blindness.

Experts say that a global survey to identify those who are most at risk needs to happen within the next three years.

The mapping will be led by Sightsavers, an international charity that works with partners to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in the developing world.

Experts from the UK’s London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will play a key role in the consortium of the International Trachoma Initiative, other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and academic institutions carrying out the work.

The World Health Organization, which has resolved to eliminate the disease by 2020, has developed a proven method to treat and prevent

trachoma – the SAFE strategy – that is already being used in many countries. But to ensure the disease can be eliminated on schedule, the scale and precise locations of trachoma need to be identified by 2015.

The chairman of Sightsavers, Lord (Nigel) Crisp, said: “The completion of the mapping of this disease will be a pivotal moment in the fight against trachoma. Once this data is available, the scale of the problem can be understood and it will be clear exactly where trachoma is putting people at risk of blindness, so that the resources can be mobilised to enable us to end this dreadful condition.”

The UK’s International Development Minister, Stephen O’Brien, said: “Trachoma causes misery and suffering to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. Mapping is the critical first step in identifying those most at risk from the disease and ensuring they receive the right treatment.

“Britain is at the forefront of the global effort to rid the world of neglected tropical diseases such as trachoma and this work will play a key role in helping to achieve this,” he added.

Support from the UK government will ensure that millions of people living in suspected endemic countries are surveyed by March 2015. As many as 1,100 local surveyors and analysts are to be trained to carry out disease mapping. And a mobile application is to be developed to record mapping data, as well as open access to disease maps being made available via www. trachomaatlas.org.

Dr. Anthony Solomo is Walport Lecturer in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and chief scientist for the mapping project. He said: “This funding will allow key mapping work to be completed worldwide in less than three years. It is an ambitious goal but we have assembled an unrivalled consortium of organisations to get the job done.”

Dr. Danny Haddad, director of the International Trachoma Initiative, added: “Blinding trachoma has a devastating personal and economic impact on people living in some of the world’s poorest countries so the UK government’s support is vital. By working with a group of NGOs with trachoma expertise the consortium is bringing together the best available resources for planning, implementation and research to achieve maximum impact with our mapping. The end of trachoma is in sight.”

Many neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are co-endemic and it is common for people to be simultaneously infected with a number of NTDs. When possible, the prevalence of other NTDs and the availability of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities will also be surveyed.

By Ray Cooling