Both the Rotary Club of Alice Springs-Mbantua and the Rotary Club of Alice Springs have committed to joining the national Rotary End Trachoma campaign to end trachoma in Australia and to coincide with the World Health Organisation's End Trachoma 2020 campaign.
Australia is the ONLY first world country in which the bacterial eye infection trachoma, which can lead to blindness if left untreated, is still endemic.
In 2016, the Rotary Club of Melbourne took up the challenge to create a national Rotary campaign to end trachoma to celebrate 100 years of Rotary in Australia in 2021.
We have responded to that challenge and continue to look for opportunities to support the broader initiative by committing to being the champions for Central Australia.
Although the 2020 target has passed, Rotary continues to push to rid Australia of this debilitating condition in the vulnerable remote populations.
The Rotary End Trachoma campaign is strongly supported by Past Rotary International President (and Australian) Ian Risley and his message to all Rotarians from 2017 is below.