Egypt eliminates trachoma as a public health problem
Egypt has been validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. It is the 27th country globally and the seventh in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to achieve this milestone.
Trachoma was formally declared a public health problem in Egypt in 1960 and was initially treated there using tetracycline eye ointment. Investigations conducted between 1989 and 2002 indicated that trachoma remained prevalent in several parts of the country. In 2002, a trachoma rapid assessment in Fayoum governorate found that 48% of children had active (inflammatory) trachoma, while trachomatous trichiasis—the blinding stage of trachoma—was seen in 38% of adults examined.
In response, the Ministry of Public Health developed successive five-year plans to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. These plans focused on implementing the WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy — Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvement. In partnership with the International Trachoma Initiative, the Ministry formally launched a trachoma program in 2002, initially targeting Menofiya and Minya governorates before expanding nationwide. Key program components included the development of educational materials for health workers, community-based training for women in highly affected villages, and the training and quality monitoring of eye surgeons in the bilamellar tarsal rotation procedure. Additional mapping through the Global Trachoma Mapping Project (2012–2016), revealed the need for SAFE implementation in several districts and led to a training-of-trainers for trachomatous trichiasis surgery in 2017 and one round of antibiotic mass drug administration (MDA, employing azithromycin donated by Pfizer through the International Trachoma Initiative) in Mattai district in 2019.
Trachoma has been documented throughout much of Egypt’s history. References to the disease date back to 1500 BC, with ancient Egyptian medical texts describing treatments using mixtures of myrrh, lizard, and bat blood. The disease has even been identified in the eyelids of Egyptian mummies, underscoring its deep historical roots in the country.
Egypt has also played a historic role in advancing global understanding of trachoma. In 1999, Egyptian researchers participated in the landmark Azithromycin in Control of Trachoma trial, which demonstrated that oral azithromycin was more effective than topical tetracycline in clearing infection, paving the way for the global adoption of azithromycin MDA as part of the SAFE strategy. Much earlier, Egypt was also home to the pioneering work of ophthalmic surgeon Arthur Ferguson MacCallan, a world authority on trachoma whose contributions between 1903 and 1923 supported control efforts and shaped international practice. The MacCallan Classification, published in 1908, standardized the diagnosis of trachoma. His seminal works, Trachoma and Its Complications in Egypt (1913) and Trachoma (1936), were hugely influential texts.
This milestone marks the end of a disease that has burdened communities throughout Egypt’s history.— Michaela Kelly, Chair, ICTC
“The elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Egypt is a historic achievement,” said Michaela Kelly, Chair of the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC). “It highlights what can be achieved through strong government ownership, evidence-based public health strategies, and modern medicine. This milestone marks the end of a disease that has burdened communities throughout Egypt’s history. ICTC congratulates the Government of Egypt and all partners involved.”
Trachoma is targeted for global elimination as a public health problem by 2030 under the NTD road map 2021–2030, endorsed by WHO Member States at the World Health Assembly in November 2020. A 2025 trachoma progress update published by WHO in its Weekly Epidemiological Record shows that in April of this year, 102.6 million people worldwide still required interventions for trachoma — a 93% decrease from the 1.5 billion estimated to be at risk in 2002.
Countries previously validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem are Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Vanuatu, and Viet Nam.
The elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Egypt was supported by several ICTC members and observers, including CBM, United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (formerly known as the Department for International Development), the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Magrabi Foundation, the International Trachoma Initiative, Pfizer Inc., Sightsavers, Tropical Data, and WHO. ICTC also acknowledges the support of the Nourseen Foundation, Misr El Kheir Foundation, Rotary International and all other partners involved.