River Blindness Eradicated from Ecuador
October 9, 2014
Christian Blind Mission major partner in country’s success
GREENVILLE, SC – The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced that Ecuador officially has been declared free of river blindness, also known as onchocerciasis. Christian Blind Mission (CBM) was one of the key partners involved in the country’s success in eradicating the disease. CBM’s US headquarters are located in Greenville, S.C.
River blindness is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. It is spread by the bite of an infected black fly, which releases larvae under the skin. The larvae multiply and eventually migrate to the eyes, causing irreversible blindness. Currently, 120 million people are at risk of river blindness in the developing world.
Successful elimination of river blindness from Ecuador took the combined efforts of many partners internationally. Working together, these partners provided years of annual treatments of Mectizan® — which were donated by Merck — to infected areas to treat and prevent the disease. Among the partners involved in these efforts were CBM (Christian Blind Mission), Ecuador’s Ministry of Health, the Pan American Health Organization, Merck, hundreds of thousands of Americans who have invested private support in the program, as well as many thousands of Ecuadorans who individually made 20+ year commitments to ridding themselves and their children of this disease.
In its program to control and eliminate river blindness, CBM and its partners make a long-term commitment to distribute Mectizan to entire communities for 15-20 years – as long as it takes to ensure the disease is wiped out. They began distributing Mectizan in Ecuador in 1990. In 2010, treatment was halted after transmission of onchocerciasis in the country was successfully stopped. At the end of the verification period, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan officially notified Ecuador last week that the disease has successfully been eradicated within the country.
“Many people deserve our thanks and praise for their efforts to eliminate river blindness,” says Caryl García, CEO of CBM-US, “But I want to recognize that this miracle couldn’t have taken place without Merck and the individual assistance of generous and caring American donors whose gifts helped ensure that thousands of Mectizan tablets were distributed over a 20-year period. Our prayers have been answered. The population of an entire country now can be free from worry of this blinding disease. These donors are literally changing the world!”
CBM continues to treat more than 15 million people every year for river blindness in other developing countries where the disease is still prevalent.
CBM-US is a member association of CBM, the world’s largest humanitarian organization devoted to helping children, women and men who live with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world.
For more information, visit www.cbmus.org.
CBM-US ▪ 228 Adley Way ▪ Greenville, SC 29607 ▪ 864-239-0065 ▪ 800-937-2264 ▪ www.cbmus.org
