The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Health (MOH) celebrated on Monday the sixth anniversary on eradication of trachoma in the Sultanate at Grand Hayyat Hotel under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Saidi, Minister of Health with the presence of H.E. Dr. Akjimal Makhtimova, Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the Sultanate. 

In 2012, the WHO has recognized that Oman is free-of-trachoma, thus it became the first country to be recognized as free of this disease.

The Minister of Health said that the WHO recognized in November 2012 the Sultanate is free of trachoma due to the programmed intervention and the strategies set by the Sultanate.

On the other hand, Dr. Said Al-Lamki, Director-General of Primary Healthcare said in his welcoming speech "A number of research studies had taken place in Oman which had shown the prevalence of the disease in the community. Through the survey which was done by the Ministry of Health in 1997, the prevalence of Trachoma had reached 2.2% and the prevalence of entropion was found to be 1%. In another survey conducted in 2009, entropion was found to be present in 1 in 1000 of the population. While in 2017 the prevalence of trachoma amongst children less than 10 years of age was 0.04%".

Dr. Al-Lamki pointed out that through the SAFE strategy which was announced by the WHO, and implemented by Oman as the rest of the world, the spread of Trachoma was controlled and its prevalence had reached lower levels than what had been set by The World Health Organization.He added that Trachoma has also been included under those epidemiological diseases requiring surveillance and cases are notified and treated immediately. He also stressed that with the improvements in technology, an e-notification system of the Department of Communicable Disease in the Directorate-General of Diseases Control, which monitors the spread of diseases and controls it was activated.The Director-General of Primary Healthcare pointed out that both the governmental and non-governmental authorities in Oman had vital and prominent roles in reducing the prevalence of this disease. People in the community played an active and fruitful role in achieving this.  

The Sultanate has made significant strides in eliminating the causes of trachoma disease according to the WHO's standards. The "Trachoma Control Program" was one of the main pillars of the Ministry of Health, which effectively began in 1982. 

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