The final stage of trachoma elimination will be the hardest: here’s how Sightsavers is tackling it

By Phil Downs, technical director for neglected tropical diseases at Sightsavers.

A new report from the World Health Organization has shown that the world is getting closer to eliminating trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness.

For the team working to beat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) at Sightsavers, this is fantastic news. So far in 2026, we have been supporting trachoma elimination work in 30 countries and surveys in 24 countries. We’ve been working with ministries of health and partners to deliver treatment, strengthen health systems and guide the final push towards elimination.

The report highlights that by July 2026, 32 countries were validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, while the number of people at risk from the disease fell to 92 million worldwide. Since the previous annual WHO progress report, seven more countries have joined the list: Fiji, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Australia, Tunisia and El Salvador.

This progress is significant and will see millions of people protected from trachoma – but the final stretch for global elimination of the disease will be the hardest. The 2026 report shows that the majority of remaining trachoma infections occur in Africa. Some countries are facing major challenges including insecurity, weak access to water and sanitation, and shortages of trained health workers.

Sightsavers is committed to addressing these challenges and helping countries reach the finish line. In 2025, we supported more than 4.4 million trachoma treatments across Africa. Beyond mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns, we also support operations and surgical training, and strengthen district-level health systems. This will allow countries to continue managing individual trachoma cases that occur after the disease has been eliminated as a public health problem.

Our leadership role in trachoma elimination efforts helps turn ambition into measurable progress. As well as supporting governments to implement programmes, we help mobilise resources and shape the global investment landscape for trachoma and other NTDs. We collaborate with major philanthropic partners on trachoma elimination and work on innovations relating to geographical information systems, treatment frequency, control measures and diagnostics. We also address location inaccessibility by strengthening our humanitarian partnerships and training local mobile health teams.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” (a quote commonly attributed to Nelson Mandela) remains a powerful reminder in global health work that what looks unachievable at the start can become a reality with sustained efforts. Within my own public health career, I’ve seen this play out in several countries.

For example, reaching nomadic and cross-border populations in Kenya seemed an impossible hurdle to overcome. But by facilitating coordination between ministries of health, gathering more granular data, and developing targeted strategies and partnerships with nomadic populations, treatment coverage improved in previously underserved border and nomadic areas, leading to a reduction in areas requiring treatment. This is the kind of persistence that redefines what’s possible – and it’s that same persistence we’ll keep bringing to our work, until we reach the ultimate goal of trachoma elimination.