El Salvador Eradicates Leading Infectious Cause of Blindness

The World Health Organization validated El Salvador’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma is a bacterial infection that causes blindness and affects impoverished communities with poor sanitation.

El Salvador met the WHO’s criteria for elimination, which includes a prevalence of less than 0.2% of trichiasis among adults over 15 and less than 5% of inflammation in children aged one to nine, alongside a system for managing new cases. El Salvador joins 29 other countries worldwide, including Algeria, India, and Mexico, that have successfully eliminated trachoma.

The country is the first in Central America and the second in the Americas to reach this milestone. The achievement demonstrates the impact of sustained public health efforts to combat preventable diseases. Continued surveillance and maintenance of the case management system will be crucial to prevent trachoma from reemerging as a public health issue in El Salvador.