Trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, still affects some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. The neglected tropical disease is linked to poverty and limited access to basic services such as clean water, sanitation and health care. While many communities continue to face the threat of trachoma, El Salvador recently reached a major milestone in efforts to eliminate the disease.

Trachoma Elimination in El Salvador

On July 13, 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) validated El Salvador’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. This makes El Salvador the first country in Central America and the second in the Americas to achieve this milestone. WHO validated the elimination after conducting targeted assessments between 2023 and 2026. Those assessments found no active transmission, no signs of the disease in children and no advanced cases among adults that could cause blindness.

Trachoma and Poverty

Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and remains the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Repeated infections can scar the eyelids and cause blindness when severe. The disease disproportionately affects populations living in poverty, particularly communities with limited access to clean drinking water, sanitation and education. A study examining trachoma vulnerability across 22 Latin American countries found that these socioeconomic factors can help identify and prioritize communities for surveillance.

According to the World Bank, approximately 5% of the population lived on $3.00 a day or less in 2023. In 2022, El Salvador’s economic activity and market confidence increased, and strengthened security measures drove crime down. Challenges still remain in the country, however, including low productivity and limited human capital.

El Salvador’s Path to Elimination

The country joined the regional elimination effort in 2023 to identify and eliminate trachoma. Through collaboration among El Salvador’s Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Government of Canada, health officials planned surveillance in communities where trachoma was suspected to be a public health problem. A multisectoral approach supported El Salvador’s progress. The approach included strengthened health care and eye health services, as well as improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

El Salvador conducted rapid assessments as part of the regional elimination initiative to confirm whether trachoma was present in prioritized communities. The assessments confirmed the presence or absence of trachoma and helped health officials determine what actions were needed based on the evidence.

Dr. Marcelo Korc, a public health professional with 28 years of international experience with PAHO/WHO, has served as Head of Country Office in El Salvador since March 2025. In an interview with The Borgen Project, Korc emphasized the importance of evidence in the elimination process, saying, “One lesson is that elimination must be grounded in evidence.”

Strengthening Communities

Eliminating trachoma in El Salvador also strengthened the country’s health system, helping sustain the progress made toward eliminating the disease. The country trained health personnel, integrated trachoma surveillance into its health systems and established the capacity to identify and manage trichiasis cases. WHO recommends that countries that achieve elimination maintain surveillance and continued access to quality eye care to prevent the disease from returning. El Salvador’s work toward elimination placed the country in a group of 64 countries worldwide that have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease.

The regional initiative also used trachoma activities as an opportunity to bring additional services to communities that can be difficult to reach. Outreach visits in participating countries combined eye care with services such as vaccination, nutrition and hygiene promotion, allowing health teams to address multiple needs during a single visit. The initiative also emphasized community participation and culturally appropriate approaches, including dialogue with Indigenous communities and training health teams to incorporate traditional knowledge into public health practices.

Progress Toward Elimination

El Salvador’s achievement comes as trachoma remains a public health problem in rural and remote areas of Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru. Other countries in the Americas are also investigating areas where the disease has been suspected, making El Salvador’s validation a significant step in the region’s broader effort to eliminate trachoma. The disease is one of more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions that PAHO’s Disease Elimination Initiative targets, aiming to eliminate them in the Americas by 2030.

Eliminating trachoma in El Salvador also charts a path for other countries in the Americas as they continue collecting evidence and expanding interventions in priority communities. During the initiative’s third year, representatives from 11 countries reviewed progress and identified continued epidemiological assessments, WASH actions and evidence collection as priorities for the next phase. Evaluators recognized PAHO’s Disease Elimination Initiative for using communication as a strategic component throughout the initiative; this combined communication helped record and highlight country progress and elimination milestones.

For El Salvador, however, validation represents more than the absence of active trachoma. Speaking on the achievement, Korc emphasized, “El Salvador’s validation as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem should not be viewed solely as the conclusion of a process, but as a contribution to a broader national, regional and global movement.” Looking ahead, El Salvador’s elimination of trachoma offers a model for other countries seeking to eliminate the disease and protect future generations from preventable blindness.

– Lily Hoch

Lily is based in Midway, PA, uSA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

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