01445nas a2200253 4500000000100000008004100001653001500042653001300057653003100070653002800101653001100129653003100140653001800171653002400189653002600213100001300239700001200252700001100264245010200275300001000377490000600387520078400393022001401177 2014 d10aTrichiasis10aTrachoma10aPreventive Health Services10aPopulation Surveillance10aHumans10aHealth plan implementation10aGlobal health10aDisease eradication10aAnti-Bacterial Agents1 aHaddad D1 aGebre T1 aRono H00aElimination of blinding trachoma by 2020: a call for rapid scale-up and strengthening programmes. a156-70 v63 a

Elimination of blinding trachoma is targeted for the year 2020, making scale-up extremely urgent. Preferred practices have been developed for mass drug administration and trichiasis surgery to assist new countries and districts. However, these need to be utilised on a broader scale to ensure quality output of programmes and the highest coverage possible of their implementation. Although in recent years there has been a significant increase in programmatic funding, there are still gaps. In addition, continued insecurity in several regions and outbreaks that require refocusing of staff threaten the goal. Close partnerships and collaboration enable the trachoma community to be well on track to reaching the goal, but it cannot be business as usual to achieve this.

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