Merck & Co., Inc. and World Vision: Fighting River Blindness in Angola through the MECTIZAN Donation Program
Moxico, Lunda North and Lunda South, Angola
Merck & Co., Inc., World Vision
Angola is a presidential republic of just under 17 million people in the south of Africa. Millions of people in Angola are at risk of onchocerciasis, more commonly known as river blindness. Lack of sufficient mapping of the disease and insufficient health system infrastructure hampered efforts to reach people with MECTIZAN, despite the drugs' availability since 1987 through Merck & Co., Inc.'s donation program.
Through the coordination of efforts with World Vision, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, community-based distribution programs with MECTIZAN began in 2004, reaching 400,000 people. By 2007, World Vision Angola was reaching 650,000 people, nearly 70% of all the MECTIZAN treatments country-wide.
The purpose of the program is to reach the at-risk population once a year with MECTIZAN, the only safe and effective drug available for treatment of onchocerciasis. Left untreated, the disease leads to painful and disfiguring skin conditions, vision loss, and eventual blindness.
MECTIZAN relieves the agonizing itching that accompanies the disease, and halts progression towards blindness - two characteristics of the diseases that dramatically affect the quality and duration of life. With only one annual dose, MECTIZAN is well suited for distribution in remote areas by community health workers. It is the only well-tolerated drug known to halt the development of river blindness.
As in other countries, the Angola program consists not only of distribution of donated MECTIZAN, but also education about onchocerciasis, evaluation and patient follow up. Merck & Co., Inc. provides donations of MECTIZAN and provides for shipping of the drug to Angola. 2007 donations had a market value of US $3.1M. World Vision Angola supports and organizes the Angola national onchocerciasis program. World Vision Angola partners with the Ministry of Health of Angola for overall national program coordination, provision of health workers, and patient follow up. Additionally, the WHO Angola office aids in supply chain of MECTIZAN.
More than 650,000 protected against further progression of onchocerciasis; with continued treatment, the transmission of the disease can be eliminated in individual communities.
The MECTIZAN Donation Program is one of the most significant initiatives undertaken by Merck & Co., Inc. to help improve access to medicines in developing countries. Established 20 years ago, the MECTIZAN Donation Program is the single largest, longest standing public/private partnership of its kind and is widely regarded as one of the most successful public-private health collaborations in the world. Merck & Co., Inc. has made the commitment to donate all the MECTIZAN that is needed to eliminate onchocerciasis as a public health problem.
