Nepal eliminated trachoma as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Nepal for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. With this, Nepal has become the first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to defeat the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Trachoma, an eye disease caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, is spread through contact with infective eye or nose discharges.

Infection is particularly common in young children. Transmission is associated with poor sanitation and hygiene, which increase the availability of eye discharges and encourage the breeding of flies. Trachoma puts more than 190 million people at risk of blindness in 41 countries. It is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of around 1.9 million people worldwide.