Millions Saved: Controlling Onchocerciasis in Sub-Saharan Africa
2007
This case describes the 1995 introduction of African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) created to control the disease in 19 Central, East and Southern African countries. A previous program, Onchocerciasis Control Program (OCP) started in 1974, had sprayed environmentally safe insecticides weekly. This aerial spraying helped stop the blackflies from spreading the disease by preventing breeding. The APOC, the second program, had a range of partners from local communities—over 115,000 remote and rural communities participated—to international organizations. In 2005 Merck & Co., Inc. donated Merctizan to more than 45 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. An annual dose of this drug prevents or alleviates the symptoms of Onchocerciasis.
This case study is part of Millions Saved, a collection of case studies produced by the Center for Global Development that describes successful examples of large-scale efforts to improve health in low- and middle-income countries, as well as promising interventions that fell short of their health targets when scaled-up in real world conditions.
Millions Saved: Controlling Onchocerciasis in Sub-Saharan Africa
Source:
Levine R. Controlling Onchocerciasis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Center for Global Development 2007. http://www.cgdev.org/page/case-7-controlling-onchocerciasis-sub-saharan-africa.