Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36037211›Full record

ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2022

The elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Mexico: From national health priority to national success story.

Víctor Quesada-Cubo, Dey Carol Damián-González, Francisco Gibert Prado-Velasco, Nadia Angélica Fernández-Santos, Gustavo Sánchez-Tejeda, Fabián Correa-Morales, Hermilo Domínguez-Zárate, Abel García-Orozco, Martha Idalí Saboyá-Díaz, María Jesús Sánchez-Martín

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Indigenous Eye Health in the Americas: The Burden of Vision Impairment and Ocular Diseases.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Trachoma.Lancet (London, England) · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Víctor Quesada-CuboIndependent Researcher, Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-6055-6604
Dey Carol Damián-GonzálezTrachoma Jurisdictional Coordination in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
Francisco Gibert Prado-VelascoState Coordination of Trachoma in Chiapas, Chiapas, Mexico.
Nadia Angélica Fernández-SantosInstituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Reynosa, Mexico.
Gustavo Sánchez-TejedaVector-Borne Diseases Program, National Center for Disease Control and Preventive Programs (CENAPRECE), Mexico City, Mexico.
Fabián Correa-MoralesVector-Borne Diseases Program, National Center for Disease Control and Preventive Programs (CENAPRECE), Mexico City, Mexico.
Hermilo Domínguez-ZárateDirectorate of Public Health, Chiapas Ministry of Health, Chiapas, Mexico.
Abel García-OrozcoState Department of Vectors, Chiapas, Mexico.
Martha Idalí Saboyá-DíazDepartment of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, D.C., United States of America.
María Jesús Sánchez-MartínDepartment of Communicable Diseases and Health Determinants, Pan American Health Organization, Mexico City, Mexico.
Instituto Politécnico Nacional · MXUniversidad de Los Altos de Chiapas · MXUniversidad Panamericana · MXWorld Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMexico was the first country in the Americas and the third in the world to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, as validated by the WHO in 2017.

objectiveTo describe the critical elements that favored the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Mexico and the public health impact of this success. METHODOLOGY: A revision and compilation of data and information contained in the dossier presented by the country to PAHO/WHO to obtain the validation of trachoma elimination as a public health problem was conducted by a group of delegates from the national and local trachoma prevention and control program. Data from the national and local surveillance systems and reports of actions conducted after achieving the elimination goal were also included. Critical elements that favored the achievement of the elimination goal from 1896 to 2019 were extracted.

resultsMexico reached the elimination of trachoma in 2016 obtaining the validation in 2017. 264 communities were no longer endemic and 151,744 people were no longer at risk of visual impairment or possible blindness due to trachoma. The key to the success of this elimination process was primarily the local leadership of health authorities with sustained funding for brigades, increased access to potable water and sanitation, and key alliances with indigenous authorities, health authorities, and government institutions that contributed to the achievement of the goal. The SAFE strategy started implementation in Mexico in 2004 as a comprehensive package of interventions. SAFE stands for surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and improvement of the environmental conditions. These actions impacted drastically on the number of new cases trachmatous trichiasis (TT) and trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF), which decreased from 1,794 in 2004 to zero in 2016.

conclusionsThe elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Mexico is a true success story that may serve as a model example for the elimination of other neglected infectious diseases in the Americas.

Indexed as

Infant, Newborn, DiseasesTrachomaTrichiasisHealth PrioritiesHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMexicoPrevalencePublic Health

Identifiers

PMID36037211
PMCPMC9462675
OpenAlexW4293469825

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.