Winning the Battle--Slowly--Against River Blindness with Merck's Support
Topic: Eye Care
"Public health officials at the 20th Inter-American Conference on Onchocerciasis in Antigua, Guatemala, confirmed that more than one-third of all Latin Americans who ran the risk of contracting river blindness (onchocerciasis), a leading cause of preventable blindness, are no longer at risk," reports MedicalNewsToday. "Officials attribute the successes in Latin America to a ...partnership led by the Carter Center...The Carter Center - through its sponsorship of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas (OEPA) - assists national ministries of health in six affected countries in Latin America to conduct health education and distribute Merck's medicine, ivermectin (registered trademark Mectizan)...'Merck has donated Mectizan for more than 20 years and will continue to do so until river blindness becomes a disease of the past,' said Richard T. Clark, chairman and CEO of Merck."