Trachoma eliminated in Timor-Leste.

The elimination of Trachoma, a transmissible Bacterial disease which is thew world's leading infectious cause of blindness, in Timor-Leste (East Timor) has been confirmed by the World Health Organization, according to a press release issued on 3 September 2026. This conformation also marks the elimination of Trachoma across the Southeast Asia Region, with all other countries in that region either having previously eliminated the disease or never having suffered from it. The conformation is therefore a significant step on the way to the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating the disease worldwide by 2030.

The flag of Timor-Leste. Isabel Nolasco/Wikimedia Commons.

The announcement is the result of a campaign of screening which began on Atauro Island in 2015, and which has been rolled out to every region of the country. In 2025, a total of 4949 children aged 0-5 in all 13 municipalities of Timor-Leste did not find a single case of Trachoma, leading to the conclusion that the disease had been eliminated. The country does, however, plan to continue to monitor for Trachoma, and retain the ability to treat the disease.

Trachoma is caused by the Bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, and spread through contact with mucus emitted from the eyes and nose during infection, and can be spread by Flies. Infections are most common among children, and the disease can spread rapidly in overcrowded environments, particularly where sanitation is poor and access to clean water is limited. The Bacterium infects the inside of the eyelid, causing a roughening which can in turn lead to damage to the surface of the eye. Eventually the disease can lead to the eyelids turning inwards, blinding the patient. Infections are generally fought off fairly quickly, particularly in adults, but having been infected does not offer protection against future infections, and the damage caused by each infection is cumulative. Chlamydia trachomatis is vulnerable to the antibiotics azithromycin and tetracycline.

McCoy cell monolayer micrograph reveals a number of intracellular Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion bodies; Magnified 200 times. The intracellular inclusion body represents the replication phase of the Chlamydia spp. organisms, whereupon, the reorganised reticulate body multiplies through binary fission into 100-500 new reticulate bodies, which mature into elementary bodies. Eugene Arum/Norman Jacobs/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikimedia Commons.

Timor-Leste is the 33rd country to eliminate Trachoma as a public health risk, with the other countries being Algeria, Australia, Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu and Vietnam. Trachoma is one of twenty Neglected Tropical Diseases identified by the World Health Organization's Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021–2030, with 68 countries now having eliminated at least one of these diseases. 

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Algeria, Australia, and Tunisia have all eliminated Trachoma as a public health risk.

On 23 April 2026 the World Health Organization published a press release confirming that Algeria had eliminated Trachoma, a transmissible Bacterial disease which is thew world's leading infectious cause of blindness. On 29 April a second press release confirmed that Australia had eliminated the disease. On 14 May a third press release confirmed that Trachoma had also been eliminated in Tunisia. This brings the number of countries which have eliminated the once widespread tropical disease to 31. Countries where it has previously been eliminated are: Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Regular examination of eyes at risk can help to reduce the incidence of communicable diseases such as Trachoma. Lily Solomon/World Health Organization.

Trachoma is caused by the Bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, and spread through contact with mucus emitted from the eyes and nose during infection, and can be spread by Flies. Infections are most common among children, and the disease can spread rapidly in overcrowded environments, particularly where sanitation is poor and access to clean water is limited. The Bacterium infects the inside of the eyelid, causing a roughening which can in turn lead to damage to the surface of the eye. Eventually the disease can lead to the eyelids turning inwards, blinding the patient. Infections are generally fought off fairly quickly, particularly in adults, but having been infected does not offer protection against future infections, and the damage caused by each infection is cumulative. Chlamydia trachomatis is vulnerable to the antibiotics azithromycin and tetracycline.

McCoy cell monolayer micrograph reveals a number of intracellular Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion bodies; Magnified 200 times. The intracellular inclusion body represents the replication phase of the Chlamydia spp. organisms, whereupon, the reorganised reticulate body multiplies through binary fission into 100-500 new reticulate bodies, which mature into elementary bodies. Eugene Arum/Norman Jacobs/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikimedia Commons.

All three countries have been waging public health campaigns against Trachoma for many decades, with recent successes in eliminating infections attributed to the adoption of the World Health Organization's 'SAFE' strategy on the disease. This relies on four pillars, Surgery, which is used to save patients sight before it is lost in advances cases, Antibiotics, which are administered en masse during outbreaks, Facial cleanliness, in which large scale public health campaigns promote personal hygeine as a way to stop the spread of the disease, and Environment, in which access to clean water and good sanitation is improved. 

Mural promoting facial cleanliness to eliminate Trachoma, at Warburton in Western Australia. Minum Barreng: Indigenous Eye Health Unit/University of Melbourne/World Health Organization.

Both Algeria and Tunisia have historically had particular problems with Trachoma in their more arid southern provinces, where access to clean water has been limited. It has been estimated that in the early and mid twentieth centuries, as much as half of the population of southern Tunisia may have been affected by the disease.

World Health Organization consultant, Mario Tarizzo, prepares to take an eye smear from a school child at Srendi on the Tunisian island of Djerba. The World Health Organization has supported long-standing efforts in Tunisia to eliminate Trachoma, a disease of the eye that can cause blindness if left untreated. Eric Schwab/World Health Organization.

In Australia Trachoma was eliminated in much of the country decades ago, but has persisted in many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, where access to both clean water and healthcare facilities can be very limited, and not everyone speaks English as a first language. In recent years bringing healthcare to such communities has been driven by a network of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, which are better able to understand the healthcare needs of indigenous Australians, and deliver solutions in a culturally appropriate way.

Trachoma is one of 21 Neglected Tropical Diseases associated with devastating health, social and economic consequences outlined in the Roadmap proposed by the World Health Organization's Executive Board at its 146th session in February 2020, and adopted by the Seventy-third World Health Assembly in November 2020. This Roadmap aims to control, eliminate, or eradicate all of these diseases by 2021, in line with the United Nation's third Sustainable Development Goal: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The elimination of Trachoma in Algeria and Tunisia makes then the 62nd and 63rd countries to have eliminated at least one Neglected Tropical Disease since the adoption of the Roadmap.

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Trachoma eliminated in Fiji.

Trachoma, a transmissible disease causing blindness, has been eliminated in Fiji, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization on 20 October 2025. The disease, which is caused by the Bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis was first detected in Fiji in the 1930s and had become a major public health concern by the 1950s. Public action taken at that time led to a decline in infections, and by the 1980s it was no longer the most common cause of blindness in Fiji. However, the disease underwent a resurgeance in the 2000s, with a high rate of infection in children, leading the Ministry of Health and Medical Services to launch an eradication campaign in 2012. This began with a period of surveying, to understand the the local epidemiology of the disease and distinguish it from other blindness-inducing conditions, followed by a series of school health, water and sanitation initiatives, and community awareness programmes.

Chlamydia trachomatis is spread through contact with mucus emitted from the eyes and nose during infection, and can be spread by Flies. Infections are most common among children, and the disease can spread rapidly in overcrowded environments, particularly where sanitation is poor and access to clean water is limited. The Bacterium infects the inside of the eyelid, causing a roughening which can in turn lead to damage to the surface of the eye. Eventually the disease can lead to the eyelids turning inwards, blinding the patient. Infections are generally fought off fairly quickly, particularly in adults, but having been infected does not offer protection against future infections, and the damage caused by each infection is cumulative. Chlamydia trachomatis is vulnerable to the antibiotics azithromycin and tetracycline.

McCoy cell monolayer micrograph reveals a number of intracellular Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion bodies; Magnified 200 times. The intracellular inclusion body represents the replication phase of the Chlamydia spp. organisms, whereupon, the reorganized reticulate body multiplies through binary fission into 100-500 new reticulate bodies, which mature into elementary bodies. Eugene Arum/Norman Jacobs/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikimedia Commons.

Fiji is the 26 country to eliminate Trachoma, with Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Gambia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Ghana, India, Iraq, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Vanuatu and Vietnam having previously done so. It is also the 38th country to have eliminated at least one Neglected Tropical Disease, and the 13th state in the Western Pacific Region to have done so. Trachoma is still considered to be a public health problem in 31 countries, and is hyperendemic in many of the poorest and most rural areas of Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Approximately 103 million people live in areas where the disease is considered to be endemic. In 2024, 87 349 people worldwide received surgical treatment for advanced Trachoma, and 44.4 million people were treated with antibiotics for Chlamydia trachomatis infections. Trachoma is thought to be responsible for about 1.4% of all cases of blindness worldwide.

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