All posts by Angad Dhindsa

Top News Stories

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Come here every month to see the most important news on NTDs!

  1. Mexico eliminates transmission of river blindness; Jimmy Carter and Carlos Slim partner to eliminate onchocerciasis from the Americas – Outbreak News Today 11/14/14
  2. How to leverage the private sector to sustain health programs: A case study from Ghana – Devex 11/18/14
  3. World Toilet Day: Photos Reveal How Poor Sanitation Is Causing A Gender Inequality Crisis – Huffington Post 11/19/14
  4. Roundup: Ensuring women’s access to safe toilets is “moral” imperative — UN chief – Xinhua News Agency 11/19/14
  5. Why “Neglected Diseases” Are Becoming A Global Danger – IO9 11/20/14
  6. End to indigenous trachoma in sight – The Australian 11/22/14
  7. Chinese Premier urges elimination of snail fever – ECNS 11/23/14
  8. Neglected Tropical Diseases that Kill – PLOS NTDs 12/2/14
  9. Unilever Helps Lead Coalition To Solve The Global Sanitation Crisis – Forbes 12/9/14

 

Ecuador Becomes Second Country in the World to Eliminate River Blindness

Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs, Onchocerciasis,

 

With help from the Carter Center and the Pan American Health Organization, Ecuador has officially become the second country in the world to achieve elimination of onchocerciasis (river blindness).

To eliminate onchocerciasis in Ecuador, the country had to overcome a major obstacle — Simulium exiguum; the main vector in Ecuador is exceptional at transmitting the disease. Ecuador’s Ministry of Health had been distributing medication in the country since 1990 — halting distribution in 2010 after transmission of the disease was successfully interrupted.

Watch a video from the Carter Center to see how treatment reached some of the most remote communities in Ecuador:

Ecuador is the second country in the world to receive verification from the World Health Organization in eliminating onchocerciasis after Colombia in 2013. The next challenge being undertaken in the fight against onchocerciasis in the Americas is addressing the disease in the scattered and migratory Yanomani population who live in the border area between Venezuela and Brazil.

Read the Pan American Health Organization’s press release here.