Trachoma Matters: Integrated Mapping, Collaborations with WASH and NTD sectors

Integrated Mapping: Helping Public Health Workers Collect Data Efficiently, Start Interventions Sooner

Dr. Els Mathieu with trachoma graders and lab technicians after a training on integrated mapping in Togo.

ITI has worked for several years with Dr. Els Mathieu, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who studies Neglected Tropical Diseases. She and her team in the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria at the CDC's Center of Global Health developed and tested a protocol to map the prevalence of more than one disease at a time.

Trachoma Matters talked to Dr. Mathieu about integrated mapping and what it means for NTD control programs. Read the full transcript of our interview here.

Watch a short video of interview excerpts below.

Generating Greater Collaboration
Between the WASH and NTD Sectors

ITI WASH Coordinator Stephanie Ogden, when she worked in the village of Las Tunas, El Savador, helps Nohemi Meijia wash clothes. Nohemi's son, Christian, sits on the rock that protects the village's drinking water spring.

ITI recently engaged Stephanie Ogden to become Coordinator for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. She aims to encourage joint efforts by the WASH and NTD sectors to ensure that communities have access to water, sanitation and hygiene to protect families from trachoma and other Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Trachoma Matters talked to Ms. Ogden about her new role in this arena. Read the full transcript of our interview here.

Watch a short video of interview excerpts below.

New Resources on ICTC Website

The International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) has recently posted on its informative website four major presentations by ICTC members that were part of the 2012 Trachoma Series at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Abu Dhabi in February.

The End In Sight: A Global Strategy To Eliminate Blinding Trachoma

Dr. Danny Haddad, Director of the International Trachoma Initiative

discusses where we are with nine years to go to achieve the goal of ending blinding trachoma by 2020. He includes a discussion of SAFE, the WHO-endorsed strategy to eliminate blinding trachoma, and the steps we need to take to achieve the elimination goal.

Trachomatous Scarring After the End of Mass Drug Administration Campaigns. How Can We Reduce the Risk of New Cases of Trichiasis?

Matthew Burton of the International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, reviews current data on the pathophysiology of scarring trachoma and discuss potential approaches to this problem.

Can Trachoma Be Eliminated In The Next Decade? What Are The Challenges

Simon Bush, Director of Advocacy and Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases at Sightsavers, addresses the need for scale-up if we are to meet the goal of elimination of blinding trachoma by 2020, and that it needs to happen both in close coordination with the broader Neglected Tropical Disease agenda and within the broader development environment.

Scaling up the Coverage of Quality Trichiasis Surgery

Amir Bedri Kello, MD, MSc, Senior Consultant, Light for the World, examines the barriers to clearing the sizable backlog of TT surgeries in trachoma endemic countries and what needs to be done to scale up and increase coverage in these countries.

Look for similar resources to be posted regularly on the ICTC website.

News Briefs

ITI Welcomes New Associate Director for Research

Dr. Huub Gelderblom has joined ITI as Associate Director for Research Projects. Along with MD, PhD, and MPH degrees, he brings extensive experience in both clinical and laboratory research gained in different locations across the globe. Dr. Gelderblom will design, plan, and conduct operational research on trachoma for ITI. He most recently worked as a Clinical Research Fellow for the University of Oxford, based at its HIV Pathogenesis Program in Durban, South Africa and working in KwaZulu-Natal, the current epicenter of the worldwide HIV epidemic.

Learn more about Dr. Gelderblom's past experience and current responsibilities at ITI here.

Important Meetings on Trachoma

May 11 | Baltimore, MD

The Trachoma Scientific Informal Workshop is a scientific meeting for researchers to present their latest work on trachoma and answer questions about it from their colleagues in the field.

May 14, 15, 16 | Washington, DC

The global alliance supported by the World Health Organization called GET2020, which stands for Global Alliance to Eliminate Blinding Trachoma by 2020.

May 16, 17, 18 | Washington DC

International Coalition for Trachoma Control

MAY 2012

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A quarterly e-newsletter from the International Trachoma Initative (ITI), dedicated to the elimination of blinding trachoma, the world's leading cause of preventable blindness.