<2>Trachoma: the final push for global elimination
<3>Socioeconomic and Sanitation Infrastructure: A Key to Elimination
The World Health Organization < href='https://who.int' target='_blank'>defines trachoma as the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide, affecting the poorest and most marginalised communities. It is a neglected tropical disease that has largely been eliminated in high-income countries due to improved socioeconomic and sanitation infrastructure. However, it remains a concerning though avoidable condition for an estimated 1.9 million people made blind or visually impaired because of the blinding stage of trachoma, trachomatous trichiasis.
<3>Causes and Consequences of Trachoma
Trachoma results from repeated infection with the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, which spreads through contact and flies. Recurrent infection in childhood leads to chronic inner eyelid inflammation (follicular trachomatous inflammation) and scarring and eventually trachomatous trichiasis, when the eyelashes turn inward, scratching the eye and causing visual impairment. Trachomatous trichiasis disproportionally affects women because of their proximity to children. It causes chronic eye pain, functional limitation, social exclusion,