The 20^th meeting of the Trachoma Expert Committee (TEC) was held on June 18-20, 2019 at The Task Force for Global Health in Decatur, GA, USA. Dr. Babar Qureshi, Director of NTDs and Senior Medical Advisor at CBM International, served as TEC Chair for the first time. Meeting observers included colleagues from WHO, Pfizer, ICTC, USAID, and implementing partners. During the meeting, TEC members reviewed Zithromax® donation requests for 2020 totaling 108,161,489 treatments in 747 districts from 23 countries. Of the treatments requested, as of June 20, 2019, just over 107,650,170 million treatments in 731 districts were approved or contingently approved for 2020.

As of June 20, 2019, ITI has shipped more than 55 million treatments of Zithromax®, and are planning for a total of 85 million treatments to be shipped by year end. In 2018, 16.0 million people in 112 districts were added to the donation program in ITI-supported countries, and 32.5 million in 207 districts no longer warranted mass drug administration (MDA). Between 2014 and 2018, 117.8 million people in 860 districts began receiving donated Zithromax® for trachoma. In the same timeframe, 102.9 million people in 635 districts no longer warrant MDA for trachoma.

If the current trajectory is maintained, ITI will be supporting fewer countries with less Zithromax® in the coming years.

In addition to application reviews, TEC members discussed patient safety during MDA, supply chain implications of the updated Zithromax® dosing guidance, and new funding for trachoma.

TEC 21 is scheduled for November 5-7, 2019 in New York City, USA.