Rotary’s 2017-18 International President, Australia’s Ian Riseley, wants a trachoma-free Australia by 2021, Rotary’s 100th year in Australia. The World Health Organisation has a global goal to eliminate trachoma by 2020. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease that can be prevented with good hygiene practices. But it is still present in remote Aboriginal communities and can lead to permanent blindness. The work of the Australian Government, the Fred Hollows Foundation and Indigenous Eye Health to treat trachoma infections has seen rates in affected communities reduced substantially. But now, we need to ensure that hygiene practices and the community environments are improved to completely eliminate the disease.
