Poverty, overcrowded housing and the excessive cost of basic hygiene products in remote communities makes it incredibly difficult for Australia to eliminate trachoma, a contagious eye disease not found in any other developed country, a Senate committee has heard.

The committee is investigating the over-pricing of items in remote Aboriginal communities and heard from Melbourne University’sIndigenous Eye Health Institute earlier in October. The institute’s senior engagement officer Karl Hampton said the price-gouging of items like soap and towels is a key factor to Indigenous youth holding “the heavy burden” of serious trachoma infections.

Read the full article about high rates of trachoma infections by Madeleine Keck at Global Citizen.