New Delhi: Calling it a momentous achievement, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda on Friday declared India free of Infective Trachoma, which has been a leading cause of infectious blindness among children.

Announcing it among the senior Health Ministry officials and faculty from Opthalmology Department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the minister said that the survey findings indicate that the active trachoma infection has been eliminated among children in all the survey districts with overall prevalence of only 0.7 per cent.

“This is much below the elimination criteria of infective trachoma as defined by the WHO. The survey findings indicate that the active trachoma infection has been eliminated among children in all the survey districts with overall prevalence of only 0.7 per cent,” said Nadda, who also launched the National Trachoma Survey Report (2014-17).

Active trachoma is considered eliminated if the prevalence of active infection among children below 10 years is less than 5 per cent

According to medical sciences, trachoma is a chronic infective disease of the eye and is the leading cause of infective blindness globally.

Caused by poor environmental and personal hygiene and inadequate access to water and sanitation, it affects the conjunctiva under the eyelids and repeated infections cause scarring leading to in-turning of the eyelashes and eyelids.

This further causes damage to the cornea and subsequently blindness. It is found affecting the population in certain pockets of the states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh as well as the Nicobar Islands.

The National Trachoma Prevalence Surveys and the Trachoma Rapid Assessment Surveys were conducted by Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS, New Delhi in collaboration with National Program for Control of Blindness & Visual Impairment and Union Health Ministry from 2014 to 2017.

This was conducted in 27 high-risk districts across 23 states and union territories. Trachoma Prevalence Surveys were done in 10 districts selected from the previously hyper-endemic states.

Under the survey, 19662 children in 1-9 year age group were examined by trained ophthalmologists. As many as 44,135 persons were examined among the 15yr+ age group. The Trachoma Rapid Assessment Surveys (TRA) was done in 17 other districts from other parts of the country in places where trachoma cases have been reported, which were not previously hyper-endemic.

Survey results indicate that active trachoma is no longer a public health problem in India.

“We have met the goal of trachoma elimination as specified by the WHO under its GET2020 program. This has been possible due to decades of inter-sectoral interventions and efforts that included provision of antibiotic eye drops, personal hygiene, availability of safe water, improved environmental sanitation, availability of surgical facilities for chronic trachoma, and a general improvement in the socio economic status in the country,” said Nadda.

According to Praveen Vashist, head of the community opthalmology department at AIIMS, during the survey, more than 88,000 persons were examined.

He said that trachoma infection of the eyes was major reason behind blindness in India in 1950s and over 50 per cent population was affected in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.