Get 2020 Meeting: Renewed Commitment with Ten Years to Go |
 |
ITI Associate Director Lisa Rotondo and Director Dr. Danny Haddad attended the GET2020 meeting in April at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo: Aryc Mosher) |
In April 2010, despite travel disruptions due to a volcanic ash cloud, ITI and other members of the World Health Organization (WHO) Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma (GET 2020) gathered in Geneva to assess what is needed to reach the 2020 goal. GET 2020 is a public–private partnership, bringing together WHO, national trachoma control program coordinators, nongovernmental organizations, academic and research institutions, donors, international experts, and pharmaceutical industry partners.
Presentations at the meeting of approximately 45 participants showed that progress is consistent and there is increasing coordination of trachoma elimination with the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) framework. However, challenges remain, including the need to expand trachoma control efforts in large countries and engage other countries to participate in achieving the Alliance’s global elimination target.
Advocacy work, data collection, and planning at the national level were discussed as three keys to speeding progress on trachoma elimination. Alliance members, member states, and international partners are already engaged in advocacy in various forums to make sure that all elements of the SAFE strategy are being implemented, but participants stressed the ongoing need for global, national, and local level advocacy. Linking to advocates working on NTDs has great potential as well. The need for reliable data on the disease burden and SAFE implementation was cited as essential, especially in determining a set of standard indicators and creating a global database accessible to all stakeholders. Participants also noted that countries, with their partners, should develop or revisit their trachoma elimination plans and estimate the costs for its implementation, complete with yearly goals and budget to achieve the elimination goals for the next five years. The Alliance asked ITI to create a Trachoma Action Plan template to be distributed to countries.
Commenting on the GET 2020 meeting, Dr. Danny Haddad, Director of ITI said:
"During the first year of ITI based at the Task Force for Global Health, we have been consulting with partners at the international, regional and local levels who have made it clear that an aggressive, strategic, and sustained approach is urgently needed to help countries where trachoma is endemic to undertake this challenge. The work ahead will be difficult as many of the countries most in need of trachoma control programs are post-conflict countries that lack infrastructure and resources. The renewed commitment expressed by participants at the GET 2020 meeting is exciting and strengthens our fight against the disease."