Introducing Mass Drug Administration

Pfizer and the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC), which includes the Carter Center and the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), are part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020 (GET 2020). This international Alliance implements the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem.

President Jimmy Carter said Pfizer’s donation of Zithromax® – the trade name for azithromycin – was “momentous in trachoma control” and that it allowed organisations and programmes to “get the medicine into the villages and demonstrate the world can end blinding trachoma”. He continued: “Millions of people worldwide will be spared the injustice, indignity and pain of their eyelashes scratching and scarring their eyes.” On November 16, 2015, ITI, ICTC and Pfizer announced the 500 millionth dose of donated Zithromax®.

Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of antibiotics is the WHO’s recommended strategy to clear ocular chlamydial infection and reduce its transmission within trachoma-endemic communities. In this presentation we look at the evidence supporting the use of MDA and the guidance on how to implement it.

As you watch, consider why the donation programme from Pfizer is critical to achieving trachoma elimination.