The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday announced that Egypt has successfully eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, marking a historic public health milestone for the country and WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO EMR). Egypt is now the seventh country in WHO EMR to achieve this milestone, the UN organisation added in a statement. The validation of Egypt's milestone brings the total number of countries that have successfully eliminated trachoma as a public health problem worldwide to 27. "I congratulate Egypt for reaching this milestone and liberating its people from trachoma," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in a recorded message at the opening of the 3rd Global Congress on Population, Health, and Human Development (PHDC'25) in Egypt's New Capital. "This demonstrates the effectiveness of sustained national leadership, strong surveillance and community engagement in ending a disease that has afflicted humanity since antiquity." Tedros added. Egypt's success in eliminating trachoma was achieved through a comprehensive national strategy, which included large-scale treatment campaigns, improvements to environmental and sanitary conditions — particularly in rural areas — and intensive public awareness programs. These efforts reduced trachoma prevalence among children to below 5 per cent, meeting the threshold required for certification as free of the disease as a public health problem. Egypt's Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said the achievement represents "a collective triumph for Egypt's health workers, communities, and partners who collaborated to eradicate this ancient disease." Egypt's Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar receives the trachoma elimination certification from Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, at PHDC'25 (WHO Photo) Nima Abid, WHO Representative to Egypt, said: "This milestone adds to Egypt's strong track record in eliminating communicable diseases, including polio, measles, rubella and most recently malaria. It demonstrates what can be achieved when political commitment, strong partnerships and years of sustained public health efforts, led by the Ministry of Health and Population, come together towards a shared vision," "Egypt's achievement serves as an inspiring example for other countries in the Region and beyond." Abid added. Decades of intervention cut trachoma burden Trachoma, a bacterial eye infection, affects around 1.9 million people worldwide, causing blindness or visual impairment. Blindness from trachoma is largely irreversible. Based on WHO's April 2025 data, 103 million people live in areas where trachoma is endemic, placing them at risk of vision loss. Trachoma has been present in Egypt for more than 3,000 years, with public health efforts to combat the disease dating back to the early 20th century. Pioneering ophthalmologist Arthur Ferguson MacCallan established the country's first mobile and permanent eye hospitals, laying the foundation for organised trachoma control worldwide. Despite these early efforts, by the 1980s the disease still blinded many adults and affected more than half of children in some Nile Delta communities. Since 2002, Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population, in partnership with the WHO and other national and international stakeholders, has pursued trachoma elimination using the WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy — Surgery for trichiasis, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvement. Between 2015 and 2025, nationwide mapping and surveillance across all 27 governorates showed steady declines in the proportion of children aged 1–9 with active trachoma, while the burden of blinding complications in adults dropped to negligible levels. Both indicators are now below WHO elimination thresholds. In 2024, Egypt integrated trachoma monitoring into its national electronic disease reporting system, enabling faster detection and response to any new cases. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
