A 40-year partnership between the WHO, the World Bank, African governments, pharmaceutical firms and over 30 development partners protects 100 million people a year from river blindness in 31 African countries.
River blindness is a terrible disease that causes severe discomfort and eventual blindness among infected people. Known in the medical world as onchocerciasis, the disease has been steadily beaten back in Africa thanks to 40 years of coordinated efforts to defeat it.
The flies that spread river blindness breed in fast-flowing water. As a result, vast tracts of fertile land in Africa, fed by rivers such as the Volta, were unsafe for agriculture as recently as the 1960s. But today,
25 million hectares of land are free of river blindness, restoring livelihoods and boosting food security.
In fact, in 28 countries of the 31 African countries where river blindness is endemic, people no longer go blind from the disease. This victory against river blindness has been possible because of a wonder drug called ivermectin, which now reaches and protects 100 million people across a vast swathe of Africa.
I thought it was a lot more than 100 million?!
#1988: “A game-changing intervention”
While the larvicide spraying was effective, it was also expensive to keep up, and there were signs of emerging resistance. Clearly, a new and more sustainable solution was needed.
Trials of ivermectin (Mectizan) in the 1980s showed it could be used to prevent river blindness. In 1988, Mr. Roy Vagelos, former CEO of Merck & Co., and one of the team of scientists who developed the drug, promised to donate as much Mectizan to control river blindness in Africa as would ever be needed.
Looking back on 40 years of partnership, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim noted that back in the day when there were scant resources for global health, this decision to donate ivermectin for as long as was needed in Africa was a “game changing intervention” by Merck and all other partners.
Ms. Geralyn Ritter, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, Merck & Co. reaffirmed Vagelos’s 1988 commitment to donate Mectizan free of cost for as long as needed, as much as needed, and wherever needed.
“Twenty seven years later, we are doing just that,” Ms. Ritter said.
Merck is awesome. I'm generally unhappy with the pharmaceutical industry -- but in this regard at least...
[-] TrumpLyftAlles | 1 points | May 30 2020 18:32:31
Ivermectin IS a miracle drug. :)
A 40-year partnership between the WHO, the World Bank, African governments, pharmaceutical firms and over 30 development partners protects 100 million people a year from river blindness in 31 African countries.
River blindness is a terrible disease that causes severe discomfort and eventual blindness among infected people. Known in the medical world as onchocerciasis, the disease has been steadily beaten back in Africa thanks to 40 years of coordinated efforts to defeat it.
The flies that spread river blindness breed in fast-flowing water. As a result, vast tracts of fertile land in Africa, fed by rivers such as the Volta, were unsafe for agriculture as recently as the 1960s. But today,
25 million hectares of land are free of river blindness, restoring livelihoods and boosting food security.
In fact, in 28 countries of the 31 African countries where river blindness is endemic, people no longer go blind from the disease. This victory against river blindness has been possible because of a wonder drug called ivermectin, which now reaches and protects 100 million people across a vast swathe of Africa.
I thought it was a lot more than 100 million?!
#1988: “A game-changing intervention”
While the larvicide spraying was effective, it was also expensive to keep up, and there were signs of emerging resistance. Clearly, a new and more sustainable solution was needed.
Trials of ivermectin (Mectizan) in the 1980s showed it could be used to prevent river blindness. In 1988, Mr. Roy Vagelos, former CEO of Merck & Co., and one of the team of scientists who developed the drug, promised to donate as much Mectizan to control river blindness in Africa as would ever be needed.
Looking back on 40 years of partnership, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim noted that back in the day when there were scant resources for global health, this decision to donate ivermectin for as long as was needed in Africa was a “game changing intervention” by Merck and all other partners.
Ms. Geralyn Ritter, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, Merck & Co. reaffirmed Vagelos’s 1988 commitment to donate Mectizan free of cost for as long as needed, as much as needed, and wherever needed.
“Twenty seven years later, we are doing just that,” Ms. Ritter said.
Merck is awesome. I'm generally unhappy with the pharmaceutical industry -- but in this regard at least...
Merck is awesome!
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