Australian Trachoma Surveillance Report 2023.

Abstract

Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of preventable blindness and is linked to poor living conditions. Australia has remained the only high-income country where trachoma is endemic, primarily in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. The Australian Government funds the National Trachoma Surveillance and Reporting Unit to analyse surveillance data annually to assess progress against World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. These criteria include (i) prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular less than 5% in children aged 1-9 years; and (ii) prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis 'unknown to the health system' of less than 0.2% in persons aged 15 years and above. Australia first reached these thresholds in 2022 and must maintain these levels in each formerly endemic jurisdiction (state/territory) for a further two years before being eligible to apply to the WHO for validation of elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. In 2023, screening staff used WHO grading criteria to assess trachoma in 67 at-risk communities. Overall prevalence, which includes estimates from all communities ever considered at risk, remained below 5% in 2023 at 2.3% in the Northern Territory; 0% in South Australia; and 1.6% in Western Australia. The proportion of new trachomatous trichiasis cases was 0.01% in the Northern Territory; 0% in South Australia; and 0.2% in Western Australia. Australia is on track to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem; however, the disease remains a health issue in some remote Indigenous communities.