In 2009 the Australian government committed to eliminate trachoma by the year 2020. At that time the rates were poorly established and ranged between 15 and 20%. The data from 2015 show a massive change with the national average for children in the endemic areas to be 4.6%. Of equal importance is the dramatic reduction in the number of communities with trachoma. Now more than 150 of the 200 or so at-risk communities no longer have trachoma and there are only a small number of communities with high rates, the “hotspots”. These are mainly in and around Central Australia.
So we are making a big impact. However, we need to keep the pressure on until trachoma has gone for all the communities and we need to make sure good levels of facial cleanliness are maintained to stop it bouncing back.
