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THE DISEASES − CHAPTER 4
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Alongside rapid scale-up elsewhere, the Gambia, Ghana, the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Morocco, Myanmar, Oman and Viet Nam are thought to have reached the elimination targets.
In 2012, Oman became the first country to be verified as having achieved national elimination
of trachoma (3).
Research priorities
Research is needed urgently to: determine the place of alternative diagnostic strategies (to
supplement or replace clinical diagnosis) at impact assessment and in trachoma surveillance;
to test decision algorithms for discontinuing mass antibiotic treatment; to investigate the
efficacy and safety of co-administering azithromycin with other preventive chemotherapy
agents; to design strategies for accurately estimating antibiotic coverage; to identify methods
for detecting trichiasis cases and encouraging them to seek surgery; and to establish how
to most effectively and cost-effectively implement the facial cleanliness and environmental
improvement components of the SAFE strategy.
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REFERENCES
1. Pascolini D, Mariotti SP. Global estimates of visual impairment: 2010. Br J Ophthalmol. 2012;96:614–8.
2. Global WHO Alliance for the Elimination of Blinding Trachoma by 2020. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2012;87:161–8.
3. WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma by the year 2020: progress report on elimination of trachoma.
Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2014;89:421–8.
4. Frick KD, Melia BM, Buhrmann RR, West K. Trichiasis and disability in a trachoma-endemic area of Tanzania. Arch
Ophthalmol. 2001;119:1839–44.
5. Report of the fifteenth meeting of the WHO Alliance for the Elimination of Blinding Trachoma by 2020. Geneva: World
Health Organization; 2011.
6. Solomon AW, Kurylo E. The global trachoma mapping project. Community Eye Health. 2014;27:18.