Founded:  1998

The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) was founded in 1998 in response to the World Health Organization’s call to eliminate blinding trachoma by the year 2020 (GET2020).  ITI’s founding partners, Pfizer and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, saw the need for an international nongovernmental organization dedicated solely to the elimination of blinding trachoma.

To achieve that goal, ITI collaborates with governmental and nongovernmental agencies at the local, national and international levels to implement the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy for trachoma control (Surgery; Antibiotics—using donated Zithromax; Facial cleanliness; and Environmental improvement).

In April 2009, ITI joined forces with the Task Force for Global Health to leverage resources and significantly scale up efforts to eliminate blinding trachoma.

Measurable Results

Since 1999, when ITI launched two trachoma control pilot programs resulting in 706,000 free antibiotic treatments administered and 5,500 sight-saving surgeries performed, ITI has made dramatic efforts to scale up program activity.  For example: 

• Today, 410,000 sight-saving surgeries have been performed and over 100 million Zithromax treatments have been administered throughout 18 ITI-supported countries.
• In 2007 alone, with the help of its partners, ITI administered over 23 million Zithromax treatments and supported over 74,000 sight-saving surgeries. 
• With the support of ITI, Morocco became the first country to complete the campaign for trachoma control in 2006, and is now working toward WHO certification to signify that blinding trachoma has been eliminated as a public health problem there.
• Four countries in which ITI works are on track to eliminate trachoma in the next two years (by 2010): The Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania and Vietnam.

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

The impact of ITI’s efforts reaches far beyond the elimination of blinding trachoma.  The SAFE Strategy addresses broader poverty and development issues, resulting in improved quality of life for millions of people in some of the world’s poorest countries.  Reduction of trachoma disease and blindness caused by trachoma breaks a cycle of poverty by preserving the ability of individuals to work and provide for their families, as well as increasing children’s school attendance.

The ITI is exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501(c)(3).