By Tesfa Mogessie

ADDIS-ABABA

 Ethiopia hopes to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020, the same year set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating trachoma worldwide, the Health Ministry said Thursday.

"I have no doubt that we [will] be able to  eliminate trachoma by 2020," Health Minister Keseteberhan Admasu told a press conference held to mark the launch of Ethiopia's Clean Trachoma Backlog Initiative.

Admasu said the country would meet the WHO's target of achieving a trachoma-free nation by 2020.

In an effort to reach the target, the minister said that surgical operations would be provided to 700,000 trachoma patients in selected high-prevalence areas.

The minister added that the government was currently engaged in expanding health institutions countrywide.

"We are expanding health science colleges and increasing the number of health professionals to 3,000 annually from a previous 1,200," he said.

Admasu stressed that the government was keen to provide health institutions with modern medical equipment to begin implementation of the initiative this month.

Cooperation is also underway with non-government organizations as well with a view to maximizing anti-trachoma efforts, he added.

"Our people are suffering," Admasu said. "We have to move at a faster speed to translate the initiative, which lasts 18 months."

According to official figures, Ethiopia – Africa's second most populous country – accounts for 30 percent of trachoma incidence in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some 138,000 Ethiopians have been blinded by trachoma, while 65 million are at risk of infection.