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WHO validates El Salvador for eliminating trachoma as public health problem

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.

14 Jul 2026

PAHO and The Carter Center join hands on the elimination of onchocerciasis across the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and The Carter Center signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement today to strengthen collaboration on the elimination of onchocerciasis — also known as river blindness — and other communicable diseases in the Americas.

21 May 2026

WHO validates Australia for eliminating trachoma as public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Australia for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem, marking a significant milestone in the health of Indigenous peoples and in global efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

29 Apr 2026

Algeria eliminates trachoma as a public health problem after decades of effort

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Algeria as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the 10th country in WHO's African Region and the 29th country globally to achieve this significant milestone.

24 Apr 2026

WHO validates Libya’s success in eliminating trachoma nationwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that Libya has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, a landmark victory for public health in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region.

19 Feb 2026

Trial finds no benefit of anti-inflammatory therapy in trachomatous trichiasis surgery

John Kempen, MD, MPH, PhD, MHS, Director of Epidemiology for Ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, is the lead author of a paper published in The Lancet Global Health, "Evaluation of fluorometholone as adjunctive medical therapy for trachomatous trichiasis surgery (FLAME): a parallel, double-blind, randomised controlled field trial in the Jimma Zone, Ethiopia."

12 Jan 2026

Egypt achieves milestone in eliminating trachoma as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that Egypt has successfully eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, marking a historic public health milestone for the country and WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO EMR). It is the seventh country in WHO EMR to achieve this milestone.

12 Nov 2025

WHO congratulates Fiji on eliminating trachoma as a public health threat

In a landmark public health achievement, Fiji has been validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.

20 Oct 2025

Senegal becomes ninth African country to eliminate trachoma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Senegal as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Senegal becomes the ninth country in WHO's African Region to have achieved this feat.

15 Jul 2025

Burundi eliminates trachoma and sets example for disease control in Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Burundi as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the eighth country in WHO's African Region to reach this important milestone.

11 Jul 2025

Niger becomes first African country to eliminate onchocerciasis

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Niger for having met the criteria for onchocerciasis elimination, making it the fifth country globally and the first country in Africa to be acknowledged by WHO for interrupting transmission of the parasite Onchocerca volvulus.

31 Jan 2025

WHO confirms elimination of trachoma in South Asia

The world moved closer to eliminating trachoma this month after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed India and Pakistan as being free of the disease, a leading cause of blindness.

16 Oct 2024

NIH-funded study compares eyelid surgeries for Trachomatous trichiasis

Trachomatous trichiasis, a potentially blinding condition where inward-turned eyelashes scratch the front of the eye, can successfully be treated by either of the two most common types of eyelid surgery, according to findings from a large comparison trial funded by the National Institutes of Health.

18 Sep 2024

WHO releases new strategy on water, sanitation and hygiene to end neglected tropical diseases

Today, on World Water Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its strategy on water, sanitation and hygiene as part of joint efforts by the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and the neglected tropical diseases (NTD) sectors towards ending these diseases over the next decade.

23 Mar 2021

Illustrations by Nigerian artist kickstart debate on neglected tropical disease

Illustrations by a local artist in Nigeria are helping health workers and policy makers understand what it's really like to live with a neglected tropical disease (NTD).

5 Nov 2020

Fight against trachoma disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic

Progress towards the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem has been substantial, but the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted community-based control efforts.

2 Nov 2020

Global funding for neglected disease research reaches a record high

For the first time, global funding for neglected disease R&D grew for three consecutive years, reaching a record high of more than US$4.05 billion in 2018.

30 Jan 2020

WHO’S first world report on vision

Vision is the most compelling contributor to the quality of our senses, and yet eye care lags behind many other areas in the importance it commands in public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said, in its report timed for World Sight Day (October 10), that over 2.2 billion people around the world (out of a total of 7.7 billion) are blind, completely or partially.

9 Oct 2019

African bacterium resists almost all drugs

It looks like it’s time to pay the piper. The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain of Salmonella typhimurium, called ST313 sublineage II.1, has cropped up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This fails to respond to any of the antibiotics that are commonly used in the DRC, except for ciprofloxacin. And to make things worse, one sample has been isolated that shows incomplete response even to this last drug.

22 Sep 2019

Study reveals a revolutionary way to treat eye injuries, prevent blindness

New research led by scientists at Newcastle University, UK reveals a potential revolutionary way to treat eye injuries and prevent blindness - by softening the tissue hosting the stem cells which then helps repair wounds, inside the body.

3 Apr 2019