We have ‘a very good chance’ of eliminating blinding trachoma by 2020

Former US President Jimmy Carter, speaking at the 15th anniversary of Pfizer’s donation of Zithromax® in New York on 5th November 2013, said: "With the help of Pfizer, we are trying to eliminate blinding trachoma from the face of the earth by 2020. I think we have a very good chance of reaching this goal." During the past 15 years, Pfi zer – through the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) – has donated more than 340 million doses of Zithromax® to 28 countries in Africa and Asia. After years of untreated trachoma infection, the eyelids turn inward and the eyelashes scrape the cornea with every blink, causing pain and gradual loss of vision from scarring of the cornea. An estimated 320 million people worldwide are at risk of contracting trachoma. Mark Rosenberg, Director of the Task Force for Global Health, which includes the ITI programme, said: "Many of those at risk are children and their mothers living in the poorest villages in the world with inadequate clean water and sanitation, but trachoma can be prevented, treated and eliminated." Pfi zer and the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC), which includes the Carter Center and ITI, support the Global Alliance for the Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020 (GET 2020), an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO). This international alliance for elimination of blindness from trachoma implements the SAFE strategy, approved by the WHO, to prevent and treat trachoma. SAFE stands for: Surgery for the inturned eyelashes (trichiasis); Antibiotics to treat active infection; promotion of Facial cleanliness; and Environmental improvements, including better water supply and latrines to reduce the spread of disease by fl ies. President Carter said Pfi zer’s donation of Zithromax® was "momentous in trachoma control", and added that it allowed the Carter Center and other international nongovernmental organizations to "get the medicine into the villages and demonstrate the world can end blinding trachoma". He continued: “Millions of people worldwide will be spared the injustice, indignity and pain of their eyelashes scratching and scarring their eyes.” Pfi zer CEO Ian Read said Jimmy Carter’s support is key to the success of trachoma elimination, and Carter concluded: "Once people in a village know what needs to be done to get rid of trachoma, they are much more eager than any of us in this room to see it done." For 2014, the Trachoma Expert Committee of ITI has approved 63 million doses of Zithromax® for treatment of trachoma in 23 countries. We have ‘a very good chance’ of eliminating blinding trachoma by 2020