International non-governmental organisation, SightSavers Nigeria, has performed more than 60,000 Trachomatous Trichiasis (TT) surgeries across 195 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and distributed nearly 29 million doses of azithromycin in trachoma-endemic communities using the World Health Organisation (WHO) SAFE strategy.

The organisation has also trained 25 trachoma surgeons, over 50,000 community case finders, conducted 174 trachoma surveys, and strengthened digital tracking, hygiene promotion and behaviour change interventions.
Country Trachoma Coordinator, SightSavers Nigeria, Teyil Wamyil-Mshelia, disclosed this at the Accelerate Trachoma Elimination Programme Learning Event organised by SightSavers in Abuja.

She said the programme, launched in 2018, focused on eliminating trachoma as a public health burden through large-scale TT surgeries, mass drug administration (MDA) across endemic LGAs, and integrated neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) interventions.

According to her, SightSavers also introduced a digital application that tracks TT patients from surgery through follow-up visits at three and six months.

Wamyil-Mshelia said the programme had significantly accelerated Nigeria’s progress towards eliminating trachoma by implementing the WHO’s SAFE strategy, which combines Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement.

She noted that the intervention had helped sustain Nigeria’s progress towards eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.
The event brought together government officials, development partners, trachoma experts and other stakeholders to review achievements, share lessons learnt and reaffirm their commitment to eliminating the disease nationwide.

Also speaking, the Director and Programme Manager of the National Trachoma Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Nicholas Olobio, said Nigeria had achieved about 85 per cent progress towards eliminating trachoma as a public health problem, with only 11 Local Government Areas yet to attain elimination status.

He explained that mass drug administration had been discontinued in 116 of the 134 endemic LGAs after they met the required elimination threshold, representing about 87 per cent progress.

Olobio added that the ministry had intensified surveillance in areas with persistent transmission to prevent a resurgence of the disease.

He disclosed that Nigeria had performed more than 100,000 TT surgeries out of an estimated target of 150,000, representing nearly 90 per cent of the target.

According to him, health officials now collect conjunctival swab samples in addition to routine impact surveys to determine whether active infections still exist in communities where transmission persists.

“We have also strengthened disease surveillance to ensure trachoma does not return in areas that have achieved elimination. Water, sanitation and hygiene are equally critical because medicines alone cannot eliminate trachoma. Communities must have access to clean water, use sanitary toilets and maintain good hygiene to interrupt transmission,” he said.

Olobio stressed that improved environmental sanitation had played a key role in eliminating trachoma in other parts of the world and remained central to Nigeria’s elimination strategy.

Chairman of the National Trachoma Task Force (NTTF) and Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr Adamu Mohammed, identified insecurity in Borno State as the biggest obstacle to achieving complete elimination, noting that seven of the remaining 11 endemic LGAs are located in the state.

“Most of the LGAs yet to achieve elimination are difficult to access because of insecurity. Our partners have done tremendously well, but insecurity continues to limit access to affected communities. There is only so much partners can do without adequate security,” he said.

Mohammed said the task force was responsible for developing national guidelines for trachoma elimination and ensuring they were implemented in line with international standards.

He urged the government to strengthen security and improve access to hard-to-reach communities to enable health workers to deliver medicines, conduct surgeries and sustain surveillance activities aimed at eliminating trachoma nationwide.