International Coalition for Trachoma Control

The International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) is a non-profit organization that was established in 2004 for the purpose of contributing to the global effort to eliminate blinding trachoma and to advocate and implement the SAFE strategy. The SAFE strategy is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).^[1]

The ICTC website has maps that show where SAFE—Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement—is being implemented. The maps are free to use and download.

The ICTC currently has about 20 members who are engaged in the effort to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020. There are also a number of observer organizations, such as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, the US Fund for UNICEF, and the World Health Organization.

Global Strategic Plan 2020 INSight: The end in sight

The ICTC's INSight global strategic plan lays out the current trachoma situation, and what needs to be done to achieve elimination of blinding trachoma by 2020.

What is Trachoma?

Trachoma is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which spreads through contact with an infected person. Untreated, repeated trachoma infections make the eyelashes turn inward, scratching the cornea. This causes excruciating pain. Although children are the most susceptible to infection, the effects are often not felt until adulthood. Women, traditionally the caretakers of the home, are twice as likely as men to have the advanced stage of the disease, called trichiasis.

An estimate 320 million people, mostly women and children, live in areas where they can be exposed to trachoma, a neglected tropical disease.^[2]

References

External links

• International Trachoma Initiative
• The SAFE Strategy
• GET2020
• 2020 INSight: The end in sight.
• Task Force for Global Health
• The Trachoma Atlas
• International Coalition of Trachoma Control