ITI is a program of The Task Force for Global Health.
Working for a World Free From Trachoma
In 1998, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and Pfizer Inc. founded the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) to help answer the World Health Organization’s call to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020.
ITI provides comprehensive support to national ministries of health and governmental and nongovernmental organizations to implement a comprehensive approach to fight trachoma.
- We manage the allocation and distribution of the antibiotic, Zithromax®, donated by Pfizer, to treat active trachoma infections; and collaborate with our partners to implement all other aspects of the World Health Organization-recommended SAFE Strategy.
- We mobilize resources for trachoma control programs and provide technical assistance to countries and partner organizations, including logistical assistance.
- We support trachoma control research, program monitoring and evaluation.
- We develop and strengthen partnerships for implementing the WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy for disease elimination.
With Help from ITI, Millions of People Are No Longer at Risk for Blindness from Trachoma
Since 1998, ITI has managed the donation of more than half a billion treatments of the antibiotic Zithromax® to treat active trachoma infections. However, the goal since ITI’s inception has been to enable endemic communities to reach a point where trachoma is no longer a public health threat and Zithromax® treatments no longer are necessary.
As of April 2021, Cambodia, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, People's Republic of China, and The Gambia have become among the first nations to have been validated as eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.
This is allowing ITI to redirect Pfizer’s generous donation to other endemic communities, furthering worldwide efforts to eliminate trachoma.