Gambia eliminates trachoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide
EMELINE WUILBERCQ GAMBIA has eliminated trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, the government has announced, after almost four decades of work to counter the disease. Trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that damages the eyelids and causes the eyelashes to turn inwards, is one of 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that the World Health Organization says disproportionately affect the world's poorest people. If not corrected with surgery, it can lead to irreversible vision loss and blindness. "Eliminating a disease on this scale is a massive achievement," said Simon Bush, director of NTDs at Sightsavers, an international charity working…