Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) It announced that it would expand the fight in Latin America against trachoma, an eye disease that causes blindnessThanks to Canada’s contribution.
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This disease, which is endemic in many poor and remote areas of the world, is caused by bacteria and is transmitted by flies and by direct contact with eye secretions of infected people. In Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru, this disease affects approximately 5.6 million people.
Canada provided C$15 million (US$11.2 million) to expand disease surveillance and treatment.
The Pan American Health Organization stated in a statement that the cooperation between the Pan American Health Organization and Canada, which was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, will focus on these countries. He adds that Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti and Venezuela “will also receive support” to strengthen surveillance, as will Mexico, which was the first country in Latin America to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem in 2017.
Canada has provided C$15 million (US$11.2 million) to expand disease surveillance and treatment to reach about 10 million people over the next five years. In Latin America, the indigenous people of the Amazon basin are particularly affected by this disease, which affects women.
“They are twice as likely to develop the disease and up to four times more likely to be blinded by trachoma than men,” says the Pan American Health Organization.
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This is due to a “range of factors”, such as their traditional caring role in local communities, lack of education, and limited access to basic health services. The statement quoted Pan American Health Organization Director Jarbas Barbosa as saying that the Canadian contribution “will advance our goal of eliminating preventable diseases.”
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