The world has only ever eradicated two diseases — smallpox and rinderpest.
Trachoma, yaws, onchocerciasis and malaria are the four diseases listed as “eradicable in some parts of the world’’.
Sandy Fulcher is leading the End Trachoma Rotary program and in that short period the introduction of several innovations has seen a significant downturn in the incidence of trachmona in Australia.
Ms Fulcher was speaking at the Rochester Rotary Community Chat Breakfast, explaining her role as project administration co-ordinator for Rotary’s End Trachoma project.
Trachmoma is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world. It is in 40 countries, mostly poorer counties, with Australia the only developed country affected in any major way by the disease
It has a high incidence in Australian Indigenous communities, representing the bulk of the 12.5 per cent of the “at risk’’ community.
The Australia-wide project has a major focus on the goldfields of Western Australia, Alice Springs and central and remote communities of the Northern Territory,.
In all, there are 1.9 million people worldwide affected by the preventable disease.
“It is a bit like polio. In order for Australia to declare itself trachoma-free, it has to be gone for three years,” Ms Fulcher said.
“We are working with the World Health Organization to end trachoma in Australia.
"Our role is to provide these communities with assistance in sanitary measures, with facial and environmental cleanliness.“
Rotary provides hand wash stations, toiletry kits, towels, dust suppressors and water transport trailers, among several other measures, to encourage improved facial cleanliness.
“If every child had a clean face between now and the end of the year, and didn’t share their face cloth, trachoma would be gone,” Ms Fulcher said.
“It is all about not sharing, but that is totally against the way people live in outback Australia.”
Ms Fulcher said End Trachoma was a very simple program.
One of the simplest initiative was the installation of 8000 acrylic mirrors in the national mirror project.
“Most homes in these communities don’t have mirrors. Putting one down low for the kids and another up high for the adults has made a big difference,” Ms Fulcher said.
Australia was a signatory to the World Health Organization agreement to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020.
Ms Fulcher said while the fight continued, she believed Australia was on track to eliminate the disease.
