New Delhi, Oct 8 : The World Health Organization on Tuesday felicitated India for eliminating trachoma -- a bacterial eye infection that can cause irreversible blindness.

India is the fourth country in Southeast Asia, after Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan to achieve the feat, the WHO said.

Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease that is caused by infection by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. The disease, if left untreated can result in irreversible blindness.

'The Regional Office for South-East Asia of the World Health Organization deems it a great honour to declare that the Government of India has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem in 2024,' read a citation by the WHO.

"India's success is due to the strong leadership of its Government," said Saima Wazed, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia.

The Regional Director also lauded the commitment of ophthalmologists and other cadres of healthcare workers who ensured "effective surveillance, diagnosis, and management of active trachoma, provision of surgical services for trichiasis, and promotion of water, sanitation, and hygiene, particularly facial cleanliness, among communities'.

Wazed also presented a plaque and a citation to India, at the 'Public Health Awards' event at the Seventy Seventh Regional Committee Session being held in the national capital.

India was known to be trachoma endemic in the 1950s and 1960s. Currently, there is no recent evidence on the magnitude of trachoma and related blindness in India, as per the Health Ministry survey.

The Union government had declared the country free from infective trachoma and active trachoma in children. The findings of the National Trachoma Prevalence Surveys and Trachoma Rapid Assessment Surveys conducted from 2014 to 2017 showed that the overall prevalence of active trachoma was 0.7 per cent.

However, the WHO was yet to declare India free of trachoma. According to WHO, the prevalence of trachoma should be less than 5 per cent to mark it as eliminated.

In 2023, AIIMS initiated a study in collaboration with the global health body to determine existing trachoma cases in Northern India In its initial study, AIIMS noted the prevalence of trachoma to be around 3.5 per cent.

Trachoma, a very painful disease, causes blurry vision, red and swollen eyes, pain while blinking or sleeping, and vision loss. It can spread from person to person through contaminated fingers, fomites, and flies that have come into contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person.

Poor hygiene, overcrowded households, and inadequate access to water and sanitation are environmental risk factors for trachoma transmission.

To eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, WHO recommends the SAFE strategy -- surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics to clear infection, and facial cleanliness and environmental improvement to reduce transmission.

It is a comprehensive approach to reducing transmission of the causative organism, clearing existing infections, and dealing with their effects.

Elimination of trachoma is part of the 2021'2030 neglected tropical disease roadmap by the WHO which targets the prevention, control elimination, and eradication of 20 diseases and disease groups by 2030.

Meanwhile, Wazed also felicitated Bhutan for achieving interim targets for cervical cancer elimination; Timor-Leste for eliminating lymphatic filariasis; Maldives and Sri Lanka for Hepatitis B control in children; and six countries for achieving SDG and global targets for reducing under-five mortality and stillbirth rates.

She presented a plaque and citation to each Member State for their achievements at the 'Public Health Awards' event at the Seventy Seventh Regional Committee Session being held in the national capital.

/IANS