In 1974, one in ten people in West Africa suffered from river blindness (onchocerciasis), a disease that causes intense skin itching, painful lesions, and blindness. Over the next three decades a groundbreaking global health partnership emerged to face this threat, the World Health Organization’s Onchocerciasis Control Program (OCP) joined Merck & Co. Inc.’s Mectizan Donation Program, and began providing onchocerciasis treatment free of charge in 1988.
By 2002, OCP and Merck had produced unprecedented results in West Africa – transmission of the infection was halted in 11 countries, 600,000 cases of blindness were prevented, and 22 million West African children were born free from risk of contracting the disease. These health impacts only begin to hint at the overall difference this program made. The program has freed 25 million hectares of arable land, enough to feed 17 million people per year. This increased land area, combined with improved workforce productivity post-treatment, paved the way for an increase of $3.7 billion in agricultural productivity in the region.
River blindness control in West Africa is living proof that public-private partnerships and community directed approaches can free millions from disfiguring and disabling conditions. As we celebrate this progress, we must recognize there is still more to be done. In Côte d’Ivoire—the largest global producer of cocoa—farmers continue to fear the reemergence of black flies that transmit river blindness. Continued investments in NTD control can have a greater impact far beyond health by promoting worker productivity, educational attainment, and better birth outcomes for mothers and children.
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