Efforts will focus, as well, on strengthening information, education, and communication activities to improve the local population's hygiene. Safe water supplies will also be provided wherever possible. The ITI efforts to control trachoma in Morocco are part of an international program to combat the disease initially in five countries where the disease is most severe. In addition to Morocco, the other countries to be targeted in this initial phase include Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, and Vietnam. The disease is most common where the economy is weak, the climate dry and dusty, and access to, or cost of, water prohibitive.
Trachoma is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America.
Trachoma is easily transmitted from person to person, particularly within families with small children. It first occurs in children, who often transmit the disease to others through frequent contact. Flies may pass the bacteria from person to person. Blindness occurs only after multiple infections, usually when individuals are in their 40s or 50s. Women are two to three times more likely than men to be blinded by trachoma, perhaps because of their close contact with children.