Abstract:

Trachoma is one of the oldest diseases known by mankind and believed to be spread from Egypt to the rest of the world. Because of the migrations and due to the geographic nearness to the countries where trachoma was endemic, the disease has been spread to Anatolia. Until the World War I the disease was endemic only in the south and south-east provinces of Turkey, but when the migrations of the people have increased due to the war, the disease became widespread. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, the government has started a war against some infectious diseases that affect a vast population in the country. In 1930, to struggle against trachoma a special directorate named Fight against Trachoma was established and Gaziantep was chosen as the centre for the fight. The directorate centre has been moved to Adana in 1932 but soon after it was moved back to Gaziantep because the fight was commonly in the Southeast and East of the country. The main objectives of the directorate were to coordinate the fight against trachoma in endemic provinces, to identify the needs of the fight commissions and help them to solve the problems encountered by the help of the Ministry of Health. The prevention of the schoolchildren and the younger ones were one of the main priorities of the directorate, so in order to isolate the infected children some separate schools and classes were established for them. A special hospital for treating and medical examining of the trachoma infected persons was erected in Gaziantep and it was followed by dispensaries and treatment houses established in villages. In 1960s these dispensaries were turned into centres where some trachoma infected elderly people and children with conjunctivitis were treated. The fight against trachoma has ended with victory not only in Gaziantep but throughout Turkey

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