The World Health Organization has validated El Salvador as free of trachoma as a public health problem, the first country in Central America to stop the world's leading infectious cause of blindness.
Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness, spread where clean water and sanitation are scarce, and left unchecked it scars the eyelids until they turn inward and blind. On 13 July 2026 the World Health Organization validated El Salvador as having eliminated it as a public health problem, the first country in Central America and the second in the Americas to reach that milestone.
How we know
The validation followed targeted assessments El Salvador carried out between 2023 and 2026. They found no evidence of active transmission, no infection in children aged 1 to 9, and no advanced cases capable of causing blindness in adults, the thresholds the WHO sets for elimination. El Salvador now joins 64 countries worldwide that the WHO recognises for eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease, seven of them in the Americas.
Why it matters
Trachoma is a disease of poverty, so eliminating it means a country has reached its most vulnerable communities with clean water, treatment and eye care. El Salvador's health minister said the country got there in three years. The WHO calls it a step toward its goal of ending trachoma worldwide by 2030.
Elimination is not eradication. The WHO's validation means trachoma is no longer a public health problem, not that the bacteria are gone, and the agency asks countries to keep surveillance and eye-care services running so the disease does not return. El Salvador reached this in three years, but holding it depends on sustaining that monitoring.
What does eliminating trachoma as a public health problem mean?
It means trachoma is no longer a public health threat, not that the bacteria have been eradicated. El Salvador met the WHO thresholds: no active transmission, no infection in children aged 1 to 9, and no advanced blinding cases in adults. The WHO asks countries to keep surveillance running so it does not re-emerge.
How was the elimination verified?
The WHO validated El Salvador on 13 July 2026 after the country ran targeted assessments between 2023 and 2026. Those assessments found no evidence of active transmission, no infection in young children, and no advanced cases capable of causing blindness in adults.
Why does this matter beyond El Salvador?
Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness and a disease of poverty. El Salvador is the first country in Central America and the second in the Americas to eliminate it, joining 64 countries that have eliminated a neglected tropical disease and moving the WHO closer to ending trachoma worldwide by 2030.
What is not solved yet?
Elimination is not eradication. Trachoma can return if surveillance and eye care lapse, so El Salvador must sustain the detection systems and trained staff it built. The milestone was reached in three years, but holding it is ongoing work.
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