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RTI International congratulates Vietnam in eliminating trachoma – a painful disease impacting the lives of millions of people around the world
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – RTI International, a nonprofit research institute and leading international development organization, is pleased to join Vietnam, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in celebrating the elimination of trachoma, a painful disease that can lead to blindness, as a public health problem in Vietnam.
Globally, Vietnam is the 21st endemic country to achieve validation of elimination of this neglected tropical disease (NTD). More than 8.3 million people in Vietnam are now free from the risk of trachoma infection. The announcement came at the opening of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, being held in Manila, Philippines.
“We applaud Vietnam for achieving this incredible goal, which has been over half a century in the making,” said Tim J. Gabel, president and CEO at RTI International. "Solving this health problem is an important achievement in improving the human condition and we are proud to be among the partners that assisted in this effort.”
Trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide, causes eyelids to scar and eyelashes to turn inwards eventually resulting in blindness if untreated. Surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness practices and environmental improvements (the SAFE strategy) is the WHO endorsed method for eliminating the disease as a public health problem, including the provision of treatment and care for those at risk for the disease.
Trachoma control was first initiated in Vietnam in the 1950s; at that time, the prevalence of active trachoma in some communes was as high as 50-90%. In 1999, the Government of Vietnam established a national trachoma program and began mass treatment campaigns with donated azithromycin.
USAID began partnering with Vietnam in 2011 to support their efforts to eliminate trachoma. In recent years, USAID’s Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | East program, through RTI and partner Fred Hollows Foundation, has supported the government to conduct surveys to monitor prevalence of the disease and ensure care has been provided to those impacted by the disease. These efforts and additional technical assistance have supported the Government of Vietnam to formally document their successes to WHO for validation of trachoma elimination as a public health problem.
“This achievement would not have been possible without the commitment of the Government of Vietnam to trachoma elimination,” says Lisa Rotondo, program director for USAID’s Act to End NTDs | East Program at RTI. “The task now will be for Vietnam to continue surveillance for resurgence and to provide care for those already impacted.”
Additional partners that have contributed to Vietnam’s success include the International Trachoma Initiative, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tropical Data, and FHI 360, among others.
Over the past 18 years, with support from USAID, RTI has partnered with governments and other countries, including Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia and Nepal, to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. Through the USAID Act | East Program, RTI will continue to support countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas in ending NTDs, such as trachoma.
Learn more about RTI’s work to control and eliminate NTDs around the globe
