[Organizing the prevention of trachoma in Hungary (1884-1903)]

In Hungary preventative measures against trachoma began in the winter of 1883-1884. Initially based on the recently issued public health law, it was imbedded in a general prevention programme against various epidemics. Local authorities and municipal boards were made responsible for carrying it out. These authorities and boards were obliged to organize supervision, to establish medical offices and ophthalmological wards and to take charge of the continuity of treatments. The public health department, however, faced serious difficulties, since most of the communities did not have the financial resources for such provision nor did they have enough trained physicians. Since the spread of trachoma could not be stopped by these measures, a new and effective solution had to be found. A new article was created for this purpose, the so called fifth article of the year 1886 "On preventing the spread of trachoma", which placed the burden of expenses for treatment - in case of lack of means - on the state budget. The government set up specialized professional training and the ophthalmological hospital system became specialized and modernised with the establishment of special trachoma hospitals, or--in public hospitals--ophthalmological wards. Although the first preventative measures were taken during the period mentioned above, the disease itself persisted, still occurring in large numbers of cases as late as the end of the Second World War.