The study, conducted in Tanzania among people who suffer from blinding trachoma has shown that azithromycin (Zithromax) is highly effective in treating and preventing trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness around the world. More than 84 million people worldwide have active trachoma infection, and eight million are blinded by the disease.

"Trachoma is still one of the most serious public health issues for humanity," said Hank McKinnell, Pfizer chairman and CEO, during a recent visit to Tanzania, where Pfizer company is involved in a major trachoma prevention program. "Seeing the progress, we now can expect that some day in not so distant future no one will ever become blind because of trachoma again."

The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) is used by Pfiser to donate Zithromax. It is an non-profit organization, which interacts with Ministries of Health and other institutions to apply sustainable trachoma control initiatives. Currently, there are 11 countries, in which ITI supports such programs: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Over 17 million antibiotics have been delivered free of charge to the most vulnerable groups of population.

"The blindness caused by trachoma is reduced substantially thanks to the strategy we have developed and effective collaboration with the countries involved in the program," said Dr. Jacob Kumaresan, ITI President. "Evaluating the results, we are diversifying the trachoma programs already in force and will support similar programs in other countries."

In the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated a public health strategy called SAFE to eliminate trachoma infections by the year 2020. Pfizer's antibiotic Zithromax is an essential element of the SAFE strategy.

Zithromax donated by Pfizer has delivered a great support for controlling trachoma in Africa and Asia. Before Zithromax, the only drug used to treat trachoma infections was tetracycline eye ointment. But it was hard to apply, with a long treatment course and wasn't quite effective on all stages the disease. A single annual dose of Zithromax was much more effective for the prevention and elimination of this infection.

Trachoma is a disease caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, which affects the eye, the inner upper eyelid and cornea. The infection scars and distorts the inner upper eyelid in a way that eyelashes scratch the cornea, and gradually lead to blindness. Trachoma usually affects rural areas where the access to healthcare and clean water is limited, and the most infected groups of population are women and children.