Excellencies, honourable ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the government of Morocco on its elimination of trachoma as a public health problem.
Worldwide, trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness. Its elimination in this country has now been validated by an external group of experts convened by WHO.
To rid this country of such a painful and debilitating disease is a remarkable achievement. It tells us that government determination, combined with persistence, can achieve truly great things.
Morocco has been at the forefront of international efforts to fight trachoma since the 1950s. These six long decades, in which the government persistently made trachoma control a national health priority, have now paid off as Morocco becomes the second country in the world, after Oman, to reach this milestone.
Trachoma is a disease profoundly influenced by the environments in which the poorest and most disadvantaged populations live. By removing a leading cause of blindness, this government has dealt a blow to a condition that keeps people anchored in the misery of poverty.
Morocco’s achievement provides good evidence of the effectiveness of the WHO SAFE strategy, introduced here in the 1990s. The strategy provides a comprehensive package of interventions: surgery for the blinding stage of trachoma, antibiotics to treat infection, facial cleanliness, and environmental improvement to limit transmission.
Implementing the strategy requires skilled staff, outstanding surveillance, public education and, above all, community engagement. I thank Pfizer for its generosity in donating massive quantities of azithromycin, the antibiotic that so effectively prevents progression to visual impairment and blindness. This is truly a gift of sight.
I also thank, with admiration, the thousands of people who worked tirelessly to make this medicine and get it to the people who needed it, the front-line staff who delivered SAFE strategy interventions to endemic communities, and the leaders of the national programme, who left no stone unturned in their efforts to make this elimination effort a success.
Worldwide, trachoma remains endemic in 42 countries and is responsible for blindness or visual impairment in around 1.9 million people. Imagine what can happen if these other countries are inspired by Morocco to bring this disease to its knees.
Again, I thank the government of Morocco for giving the world such an inspiring model of success.
Thank you.