WHO recognises Timor-Leste’s progress against trachoma

The World Health Organization announced on September 3 that it had validated Timor-Leste’s elimination of trachoma as a public-health problem.

That wording describes a defined public-health achievement. It is distinct from declaring a disease globally eradicated or saying that surveillance and prevention are no longer necessary.

WHO said a 2025 survey analysed 4,949 samples from young children across all 13 municipalities, finding no transmission at a level requiring a trachoma-specific intervention. The country will continue to identify and manage individual eye-disease cases.