As this year’s World Water Week draws to a close, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust highlights how access to clean water and good hygiene helps prevent the spread of blinding trachoma in the Commonwealth.

Trachoma is the world’s leading form of infectious blindness. It is caused by a bacterial infection that is easily transmitted from person to person, usually by dirty hands or faces. If the infection is not treated, it causes scar tissue to develop under the eyelid which eventually causes them to turn inwards. With every blink, their eyelashes scrape the surface of the eye, scarring the cornea and can lead to irreversible blindness.

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust (the Trust) funds several large-scale programmes that work with local communities to promote healthy behaviour, such as teaching the importance of handwashing with soap after going to the toilet and before eating. Each programme has the overarching objective of helping people develop lifelong hygienic behaviours that will eliminate trachoma once and for all. Full Story

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