Success Stories from Our Members in the field

International Partners Protect 16 Million African Babies From River Blindness, Helen Keller International

The international partnership to control an insidious parasite in West Africa that blinds its victims is one of one of the great successes in that region's short history of public health.

Black flies that breed in moving water cause river blindness, or Onchocerciasis, by spreading a parasitic worm. The debilitating disease was common in 11 nations of Sub-Saharan Africa before the fight against it was launched in 1974 by the World Bank, the United Nations and more than 22 countries.

Helen Keller International, an American nongovernmental organization, joined the Onchocerciasis Control Program in 1992.

Aerial spraying of black fly breeding sites in rivers formed the backbone of the program from the start. Because of the disease's extended transmission cycle, spraying must be continued for up to 14 years. Helen Keller International, a division of Helen Keller Worldwide, backs up its efforts by focusing on educating West Africans on ways to avoid the blinding affliction.

The drug Mectizan, provided free by Merck & Co., has helped control the disease. The combination of Mectizan, spraying and education has prevented 600,000 cases of blindness, spared 16 million newborn children from it and returned 60 million acres of riverside land to agricultural use.

The program will become self-sufficient in December 2002, with African ministries of health taking on responsibilities for maintaining vigilance and controlling the disease.

HKW and Merck presided over the 250 Millionth Mectizan(R) distribution this past September 5 in Tanzania. The vice president of Tanzania was in attendance, as well as HKW V.P. Meredith Tilp, and Merck chairman Raymond Gilmartin.