In a bid to enable the World Health Organization (WHO) declare India free of trachoma, a disease which causes blindness, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has in collaboration with the global health body initiated a study to determine existing trachoma cases in Northern India. The institute is on the verge of completing the report and is likely to submit it before Union health ministry. The report needs to get final clearance from WHO. According to WHO, the prevalence of trachoma should be less than 5% to mark it as eliminated. In its initial study, AIIMS has noted the prevalence around 3. 5%. TRENDING STORIES See All Premium Global Market: Wall Street sinks on jitters about banks . . . Premium Yellen says bank system remains resilient in wake of SV . . . Premium Delhi collected ₹31,462. 62 crore in taxes till Feb of . . . Premium US throws Pak a $82 million lifeline, and a word of adv . . . According to the WHO, trachoma is a chronic infective disease of the eye and is the leading cause of infective blindness globally. Trachoma is a disease of poor environmental and personal hygiene and inadequate access to water and sanitation. It affects the conjunctiva under the eyelids. Chief of RP Centre, Dr J. S. Titiyal said, “We survey which being conducted in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and the UTs of Chandigarh and Nicobar Island in Andaman is likely to be complete by May. Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region have themselves declared trachoma free today and India is yet to get this nod from WHO. " In 1970, India had a huge burden of trachoma cases. But when India’s health ministry declared to have eliminated the active trachoma cases in children, WHO did not give India a status of “trachoma free nation" and wanted the India government to carry out pan-India trachomatous trichiasis only (TT) survey. “Nation-wide survey was not possible. So, we had a consultation with WHO to allow us to conduct a survey in disease endemic states. So far, 163 districts including 5,26,316 individuals across India have been screened door to door by trained persons till date since 2019, he said adding that the pace of survey gone down during the pandemic time. MORE FROM THIS SECTION See All Premium Premium Yellen says bank system remains resilient in wake of SV . . . Premium Premium Delhi collected ₹31,462. 62 crore in taxes till Feb of . . . Premium Premium Indian startups, VC funds press panic button on Silicon . . . Premium Premium FDI cap won’t apply to OTT hosting news channels “So, our initial findings suggest that be less than 5% i. e. , 3. 4 per cent prevalence prevalence of Trichiasis, including blindness due to trachoma. We should be able to submit the report to the health ministry by May for further clearance by WHO to declare India trachoma free,“ Dr Titiyal said. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Priyanka Sharma Priyanka Shamra is a health and pharma journalist with nearly nine years of field reporting experience. She is a special correspondent with Mint. Her beat includes covering the Ministry of Health and Department of Pharmaceuticals. She also covers the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Department of Biotechnology. Read more from this author Catch all the Business News , Market News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates. More Less OPEN IN APP.