“The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated El Salvador as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness…
Elimination of trachoma as a public health problem is defined as: (i) a prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) “unknown to the health system” of < 0.2% in ≥15-year-olds; and (ii) a prevalence of trachomatous inflammation – follicular (TF) in children aged 1–9 years of < 5%, in each formerly endemic district; plus (iii) the existence of a system to identify and manage incident cases of TT.
Other countries validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem are: Algeria, Australia, Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
El Salvador is the first country in Central America and the second in the Americas to achieve this milestone.”
