What is the SAFE Strategy?

The SAFE Strategy is an innovative public-health approach designed to treat and prevent trachoma.  Recommended by the World Health Organization, SAFE adresses the multidimensional nature of both trachoma disease and trachoma control—in order to fight trachoma, it is not only necessary to treat active infection and reverse its damage, it is also necessary to address the underlying causes of the disease.  The components of SAFE are:

Surgery to correct advanced stages of the disease	using Pfizer-donated Zithromax—to treat infection in individuals.	Facial cleanliness to reduce transmission of trachoma.	Environmental improvement through increased access to clean water and improved sanitation.

SAFE = Results = Improved Quality of Life

Through the work of ITI, national governments, implementing partners, and a host of agencies (governmental and nongovernmental) at the national and local levels, the implementation of the SAFE Strategy has led to measurable results in the elimination of trachoma, therefore improving the quality of life for millions of people.

For example:

• Morocco, one of the first countries to implement SAFE at the national level, became the first country to complete the campaign for trachoma control in 2006.

• The Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania and Vietnam are on track to reach their ultimate intervention goals by 2010.

• As ITI enters its tenth-anniversary year, it has expanded coverage of the SAFE Strategy to 18 countries in Africa and Asia.

• ITI has already distributed over 100 million antibiotic treatments and supported more than 410,000 surgeries to treat advanced stages of the disease.