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Resources

Here you will find a list of some important studies and projects that we have found useful. 

Trachoma and blindness in the Nile Delta: current patterns and projections for the future in the rural Egyptian population.

Courtright, P., Sheppard, J., Schachter, J., Said, M. E., & Dawson, C. R. (1989). British Journal of Ophthalmology73(7), 536-540.

Link: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/73/7/536.short?fbclid=IwAR3g0mzkmhanK6RyYYileOiXZ7FNRaSSusAfb1vjOQ-JOmX8ND9bedvI0Qg

This study was conducted back in 1987 by Courtright et al. to assess the impact of Trachoma in the Nile Delta. Results found that active Trachoma was common among preschool children, with over 50% having moderate to severe disease. Conjunctival scarring was found in over 90% of all 25 year olds. Trichiasis was found to be affecting women to a greater extent with over 75% of older women having Trichiasis, while 57% of older men suffered from the same issue. Projections from this paper suspected that blindness rates would rise from 1.8% recorded back in the 1980s to 3.2% by 2020. 

A community-based eye care intervention in Southern Egypt: impact on trachomatous trichiasis surgical coverage.           

Mousa, A., Courtright, P., Kazanjian, A., & Bassett, K. (2015). Middle East African journal of ophthalmology22(4), 478.

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26692721/

This study was conducted by Mousa et al. to examine the effect of a community-based eye care intervention on the surgical coverage of trachomatous trichiasis. The main reason behind leading a community-intervention was that previous studies in Egypt found that there were many community-based and system-based obstacles to surgical uptake. For example females were found to be much less likely to undergo surgery for trichiasis mainly due to having very limited social support to seek care. Results found that community-based interventions with door-to-door screening significantly increased surgical uptake from trachomatous trichiasis. Therefore, at Collaborative Vision Foundation we work with local volunteers who volunteer their time to screen residents within their own communities for trichiasis and report any suspected cases to us. 

Report of the 17th Meeting of the WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma.

World Health Organization. (2013). Geneva. 

Link:  https://www.who.int/blindness/publications/GET17Report_final.pdf?ua=1

In the 17th Meeting of the WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma (2013), Dr. Khaled Amer, the National Coordinator of Prevention of Blindness gave a report about the current state of Trachoma in Egypt. He highlights that Egypt has the highest number of people with Trachoma in the world with the prevalence of active Trachoma in children between ages 1-9 being over 20%. Dr. Amer stresses that there are major problems in Egypt concerning the S component of the safe strategy, namely surgery, due to the lack of surgeons in rural areas where the disease is concentrated. Finally, he mentions that challenges to the eradication of Trachoma in Egypt include the lack of public awareness and public health education and expresses the need for greater cooperation from NGOs. Therefore, at Collaborative Vision Foundation we try to do our part as an NGO supporting efforts to eradicate Trachoma in Egypt mainly by identifying and funding Trichiasis surgeries for patients in rural areas. 

Prevalence of trachoma in four marakez of Elmenia and Bani Suef Governorates, Egypt.

Amer, K., Müller, A., Abdelhafiz, H. M., Al-Khatib, T., Bakhtiari, A., Boisson, S., … & Fahmi, A. T. (2018). Ophthalmic epidemiology25(sup1), 70-78.

Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09286586.2018.1446536

The most recent study that we are aware of, was about the prevalence of Trachoma in Egypt and published in December 2018. Amer et al. used the Global Trachoma Mapping Protocol to examine 4 towns in the Minya Governorate, almost 300 kilometers south of Cairo. Results showed that Trachoma continues to be an active public health problem in all 4 towns highlighting the need for the implementation of the SAFE strategy. Over 14000 trichiasis patients in need of surgery were identified.

Egypt Distributes Antibiotics to Over 300,000 People to Prevent and Treat Trachoma.

Community Eye Health Journal (2019).

https://www.cehjournal.org/news/egypt-distributes-antibiotics-to-over-300000-people-to-prevent-and-treat-trachoma/

In 2019, the first antibiotic distribution since 2001 occurred in the Menia region. Almost 300,000 people received antibiotic treatment for Trachoma. This was led by the Egyptian Ministry of Health with collaboration from many local and international organizations. More projects like this one are needed for the eradication of Trachoma in Egypt.