Many members will recall the collections we made of toiletries to put together toiletry bags in support of the End Trachoma 2020 campaign.

The great news, which we all received recently, is that our efforts have contributed to Australia reducing the rate of trachoma nationally to 1.5% with both the NT and WA seeing decreases on 2023 results. 

The other good news is that Australia is eligible to apply for validation of elimination as a public health problem as from 2025 - ie 3 years of overall trachoma prevalence below 5% (acknowledging that this report is for 2024).

It is worth reflecting that what was a relatively simple service project could have such a positive impact on the local communities in NT and WA.