Did you know?

Trachoma (blindness) was once endemic in Europe and the United States. European immigrants to America had their eyelids flipped and examined upon arrival at Ellis Island in New York. Nine of 10 immigrants diagnosed with active trachoma were returned to their home countries. Trachoma disappeared in Europe, even before antibiotics, because of improved living standards.
Though it is estimated that only about 1% of people with trachoma develop trichiasis (when repeated infections cause the eyelashes to turn inwards, scratch the cornea and lead to blindness), a person’s risk of trichiasis increases in relation to the number, duration and intensity of trachoma infections he or she has had over the course of a lifetime. The WHO estimates the economic cost of trachoma, in terms of productivity loss, is $2.9 billion annually.