 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Amos Sam-Abbenyi, MD, MSc, International Trachoma Initiative, 441 Lexington Avenue, Floor 16, New York, NY 10017, 212-490-6460 x31, sabbenyi@trachoma.org
Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness, affecting over 150 million of the world’s poorest people. Trachoma blinds in a person’s most productive years depriving entire communities of opportunity, particularly as it affects women, who are three times more likely to be affected than men. Girls lose educational opportunity as their mothers become blind. The prevention of trachoma relies on improved sanitation, hygiene practice and water availability. Implementing water and sanitation programs increases the likelihood of assuring successful elimination of the disease. In 1997 WHO proposed an Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma, GET 2020, to implement the ‘SAFE’ strategy for community control of trachoma. SAFE stands for Surgery to treat the end stage trachoma, Antibiotics to reduce the reservoir of infection, Facial cleanliness especially in children to reduce disease transmission, and Environmental improvement such as providing access to water and sanitation to reduce breeding sites of flies. The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) currently supports programs in nine African and Asian countries through a range of partnerships including Ministries of Health, local and international NGOs and affected communities. ITI has thus far employed a number of strategies promoting behavior change necessary to the address the root causes of trachoma. Mass communications, community-based and interpersonal approaches have been employed with apparent impact, though definitive standards for evaluation have yet to be defined. This presentation will outline the body of theories underpinning these communications efforts, a summary of relative successes, lessons learned, and an overview of the unfinished agenda.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Behavior Modification, Infectious Diseases
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.