The Contributions of Onchocerciasis Control and Elimination Programs toward the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

Abstract

In 2000, 189 member states of the United Nations (UN) developed a plan for peace and development, which resulted in eight actionable goals known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Since their inception, the MDGs have been considered the international standard for measuring development progress and have provided a blueprint for global health policy and programming. However, emphasis upon the achievement of priority benchmarks around the “big three” diseases—namely HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria—has influenced global health entities to disproportionately allocate resources. Meanwhile, several tropical diseases that almost exclusively impact the poorest of the poor continue to be neglected, despite the existence of cost-effective and feasible methods of control or elimination. One such Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), onchocerciasis, more commonly known as river blindness, is a debilitating and stigmatizing disease primarily affecting individuals living in remote and impoverished areas. Onchocerciasis control is considered to be one of the most successful and cost-effective public health campaigns ever launched. In addition to improving the health and well-being of millions of individuals, these programs also lead to improvements in education, agricultural production, and economic development in affected communities. Perhaps most pertinent to the global health community, though, is the demonstrated effectiveness of facilitating community engagement by allowing communities considerable ownership with regard to drug delivery. This paper reviews the contributions that such concentrated efforts to control and eliminate onchocerciasis make to achieving select MDGs. The authors hope to draw the attention of public policymakers and global health funders to the importance of the struggle against onchocerciasis as a model for community-directed interventions to advance health and development, and to advocate for NTDs inclusion in the post 2015 agenda.

Profiling the macrofilaricidal effects of flubendazole on adult female Brugia malayi using RNAseq

“…Control measures have relied on mass drug administration (MDA) of either ivermectin or diethylcarbamazine in combination with albendazole (ABZ) with the aim of eliminating LF and onchocerciasis as public health problems (Molyneux and Zagaria, 2002, Dunn et al., 2015). These drugs act mainly as microfilaricides in an MDA setting, which necessitates yearly dosing for an extended period of time to achieve elimination or local eradication (Cupp et al., 2011).…”

Validation of onchocerciasis biomarker N -acetyltyramine- O -glucuronide (NATOG)

“…O. volvulus infections can cause a myriad of severe effects on their human hosts including dermatitis, visual impairment and blindness. The WHO started the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) in the 1970s to fight against this parasitic disease and to improve the quality of life of people living in these poverty-stricken areas 1, 2, 3. In 1995 a second phase was launched, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), to increase the scope of this project and to further cover endemic African countries in Central Africa.…”

Genomic diversity in Onchocerca volvulus and its Wolbachia endosymbiont

“…Onchocerca volvulus , the agent of river blindness or onchocerciasis, infects an estimated 37 million people in tropical Africa and in isolated foci in Yemen and Latin America 1 , causing debilitating eye and skin disease in more than five million among them 2 . O. volvulus is transmitted by blackflies ( Simulium ) that breed in fast-flowing, oxygen-rich rivers and streams.…”