**6. Treatment and control**

Trachoma remains a major public health problem in many endemic countries. A multifaceted strategy has been advocated as the best approach if success is to be had beyond the ophthalmology clinic [15]. Following a resolution by the World Health Assembly in 1998, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the "SAFE" strategy as the most effective means of managing trachoma [38]. It has been operationalized in all programs aimed at eliminating trachoma. Elimination has been successfully achieved in hitherto endemic countries such as Gambia, Morocco, Mexico, Laos, and Nepal [47–49]. Control programs utilize a four-step approach as follows:

S: Surgery for trichiasis.


## **Figure 2.**

*WHO recommendations for initiating antibiotic treatment for trachoma.*
