The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Australia for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem, marking a significant milestone in the health of indigenous peoples and in global efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
This achievement is a significant step towards improving the environmental health of some of our remote Indigenous communities. The EndTrachoma project Directors Kerry Kornhauser, PDG Murray Verso and I, together with our Project Managers Lien Trinh and Sandi Fulcher were all extremely excited to hear the news and we are all honoured to have been able to contribute to this achievement for our Indigenous Australians.
Little did we know when we started this project 10 years ago that we would still be running this National Rotary Districts of Australia Project today as the WHO announced its elimination!
It has been an amazing journey raising over $1.2m and working with more than 40 Indigenous, government, and non-government organisations, including the Australian Trachoma Alliance chaired by Past Governor General Michael Jeffrey (dec). I have attached for your information a one-page summary of the major projects on a map showing the regions we have been working in. A great effort also by Rotary Melbourne to provide interactive water trailers for use by children in remote communities.
We would also like to acknowledge the financial support from the Baker Foundation which allowed us to establish the project. This together with the significant contribution from the Rotary Club of Hall and seed funds from Rotary Melbourne mostly covered the project's administration costs and enabled us to use almost all of the funds donated by clubs to fund the many projects we have undertaken.
Another achievement we are particularly proud of is raising awareness within Rotary of the significant health issues and disadvantage that Indigenous Australians suffer from, particularly in remote communities.
We had originally hoped to celebrate this achievement in 2020 but persistence beyond this date has proved to be well worth the effort!
