medicine
A region of 2 billion people just beat blinding trachoma
It took a decade of knocking on doors. They found nothing.
The World Health Organization has certified Timor-Leste as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, clearing the last remaining case in a region of more than 2 billion people. The certification means WHO's entire Southeast Asian region is now free of trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness. The disease, caused by repeated Chlamydia trachomatis infections, can scar the inner eyelid until the lashes turn inward and eventually blind a person. It thrives on poverty and poor access to clean water. Timor-Leste earned its certification the slow way. Investigators screened children on Atauro Island, checked eye clinics nationwide, and went house to house between 2015 and 2017. A 2025 survey analyzed 4,949 samples from children aged one to five across all 13 municipalities. They found nothing. "Timor-Leste has once again demonstrated that strong national leadership, high-quality evidence and integrated health services can deliver lasting public health gains," said Dr. Nilesh Buddha of WHO's Southeast Asia office. India was the last country to join, in 2024.
