ICTC strongly encourages its members and all trachoma stakeholders to use these figures for consistency of messaging.
- Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and one of 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect over one billion of the world’s poorest people - Source: WHO
- 136.9 million people live in trachoma endemic areas - Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- Trachoma is responsible for the visual impairment or blindness of about 1.9 million people - Source: World Report on Vision
- 10 countries have been validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem (Cambodia, China, Ghana, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman) - Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020*
- 7 countries may require interventions but in which the necessary investigations in suspected trachoma-endemic areas have not yet been completed (Angola, Botswana, Libya, Micronesia, Namibia, Somalia, Venezuela) – Source: WHO Global Health Observatory
- 44 countries are known to require interventions, while 2 countries claim to have reached elimination thresholds but have data showing trachoma may be a public health problem in at least part of the country - Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- As of 1 May 2020, 40 million people live in 203 suspected districts. This is a reduction from 2019 in which 62 million people lived in 363 suspected districts. Baseline mapping efforts currently underway will continue to confirm if suspected districts are endemic or not for trachoma. – Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- The estimated number of individuals with TT (the late blinding stage of trachoma) worldwide fell 20% from 2.5 million on 11 March 2019 to 2.0 million on 1 May 2020. Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Review, 24 July 2020
- In 2019, of the 36 countries that reported TT surgery, 32 reported gender-disaggregated data, covering 92% of individuals operated on for TT; of these, 67% were female, indicating gender equality given that, compared to men, women have nearly twice the risk of developing trachomatous trichiasis – Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- In 2019, 95.2 million people received antibiotics for trachoma. Antibiotics were distributed in 881 (61%) of the 1440 districts that qualified during 2019. – Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- Over 900 million Zithromax® antibiotic treatments have been shipped since 1999 - Source: International Trachoma Initiative 2020
- Nigeria, which holds 4% of the global burden of trachoma, further reduced its at risk population to 6 million people, a reduction from 11 million in 2019. – Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- Ethiopia which carries 50% of the global burden of trachoma reduced the number of people at risk to 68 million (down from 72 million in 2019); 62% of global antibiotics were distributed in Ethiopia. – Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020
- Women are two times more likely to need eye surgery than men - Source: The excess burden of trachomatous trichiasis in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis, 2009
- Investing in the SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvement) and coordinating with NTDs, will prevent the loss of 4 million Healthy Life Years (HLYs) by 2030 - Source: Concerted Efforts to Control or Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases: How Much Health Will Be Gained? 2016
* The WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 24 July 2020 reports nine countries have eliminated trachoma as a public health problem as of May 2020. Myanmar was validated by WHO in September 2020.
View and download:
WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) also serves as an essential instrument for the dissemination of epidemiological information.