Dr.Noopur Gupta, P09314
Trachoma contributes to corneal blindness and is the most common cause of infectious blindness. India is signatory to Global Elimination of Trachoma (GET) 2020 propagated by WHO. 28,887 children (1-10 years) and 53,360 adults were examined for active trachoma infection and trachomatous sequelae (trichiasis and corneal involvement) respectively in 27 districts all over the country during population-based epidemiological trachoma surveys conducted as per WHO guidelines. As the burden of active trachoma was 1.2% (lower than WHO elimination cutoff of 5%), India has achieved elimination of active trachoma. Blinding trachoma continues to be a public health problem with the burden being 3.3/1000, one-third of which had corneal involvement. Active surveillance and surgical interventions with gearing up of the health system to treat entropion and trichiasis will pave the path of complete trachoma elimination in the country.
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