The East Africa Trachoma/NTD Cross-border Partnership

Eastern Africa, which comprises Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, has the highest burden of trachoma in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are 1,274 districts known to be endemic for trachoma (i.e., the incidence of trachomatous inflammation – follicular (TF) is > 5%). Of these, 769 are found within the seven Eastern African countries, which represents over 60% of the trachoma endemic districts and 50% of the at-risk population in sub-Saharan Africa. Cross-border movement amongst the pastoralist communities along the long, porous, common borders within Eastern Africa are highly signifi cant in terms of disease transmission and control. It is likely that no single East African country can achieve and sustain elimination unless its neighbours do the same. As the target date of the year 2020 for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma (GET 2020) approaches, it is evident that we need to coordinate, intensify and align our efforts within each endemic country and across the common borders. We need a common platform to discuss funding, logistics and drug supply chain management issues. Most importantly, we need to share best practices and draw lessons from the challenges facing each individual country programme. In order to achieve this, a sub-regional consultative meeting involving the seven countries in East Africa was held to deliberate on these issues and decide future directions. This is similar to a crossborder initiative established in West Africa in 2010 to address neglected tropical diseases in fi ve countries. The initiative, called ‘END in Africa’, is supported by USAID and managed by an NGO called FHI360. The fi rst Eastern Africa regional meeting took place in July 2015 in Machakos, Kenya with the theme ‘Strengthening Cross-border Collaborations and Partnerships to achieve Trachoma/NTD Elimination.’ The seven countries in the region were represented by two Ministry of Health delegates each: the national NTD coordinator and the national trachoma programme focal person. Nearly all of the relevant NGOs and funding partners in the region were in attendance, and it was decided to form a coalition, known as the East Africa Trachoma/NTD Cross-border Partnership. Overall, participation in both plenary and group discussions was strong and enthusiastic. The future of the partnership, and its impact on trachoma/NTD elimination, shows promise. The partnership aims to further the global goal of trachoma and NTD elimination by enhancing programme performance and instilling a spirit of urgency and healthy competition among the Eastern African countries. The initiative’s specifi c objectives can be summarised as follows.