Washington, D.C., April 4, 2025 (PAHO) — With the aim of strengthening regional cooperation and coordinating joint actions in border areas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and The Fred Hollows Foundation organized a Cross-border Workshop on the Elimination of Trachoma and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), which brought together over 40 participants committed to eliminating trachoma as a public health problem in the Americas.
The event, held virtually from April 1 to 3, 2025, included delegates from the Ministries of Health and PAHO country offices involved in the Initiative for the Elimination of Trachoma in the Americas, funded by the Government of Canada.
Over the three days, international trachoma experts from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, shared their experiences in implementing cross-border strategies and contributed knowledge on various topics such as epidemiology, surveillance, challenges in implementing actions in conflict or border areas, strategies like the synchronization of mass drug administration, monitoring tools, health systems strengthening, sustainability, and intergovernmental cooperation, among others.
As a complement to the workshop, a matrix was shared to support the design of action plans for cross-border collaboration. Countries with shared borders proposed establishing joint working groups to advance the implementation of integrated strategies.
In the Region of the Americas, trachoma elimination faces similar challenges to those in Africa, including issues related to access, communication, infrastructure, and the presence of Indigenous Peoples. However, “We have the knowledge and experience, but there is still a need to strengthen political commitment and reinforce agreements such as South-South collaboration,” said Teshome Gebre, Regional Director for Africa of the International Trachoma Initiative, a program of The Task Force for Global Health.
“Elimination of trachoma is possible. Previous achievements in the region prove it, such as the elimination of polio or onchocerciasis in four countries, human rabies in Mexico, and lymphatic filariasis in Brazil,” stated Ana Luciañez, PAHO Regional Advisor on Neglected, Tropical, and Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, during the closing of the event. “Formal agreements are essential to address border areas. The work does not end here—it continues with the implementation of the strategies discussed and the strengthening of cooperation among our countries,” concluded Luciañez.
Trachoma is one of the 30 conditions that PAHO’s Disease Elimination Initiative aims to eliminate in the Region of the Americas by 2030.
