US $39 million pledged to eliminate river blindness

Burundi, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among 19 African countries due to benefit from a US $39 million pledge by donors to support a new programme for the control of river blindness on the continent, The World Bank has reported.

The pledge was made on Friday at the annual meeting of the Global Partnership to Eliminate River Blindness. The aim is to rid the continent of the scourge, scientifically known as onchocerciasis, by 2010. The war against it will be fought during the second and final phases of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC).

The programme builds on the "highly successful results" of the earlier river blindness programme in West Africa, the World Bank said, where 18 million children born since the programme launched no longer risk catching the disease. Currently, another 40 million people are protected from the ailment, and 25 million ha of land have been made safe for farming - enough to feed 17 million people, according to the World Bank.

Onocherciasis is known as river blindness because its vector is a black fly that breeds in fast-flowing rivers. The disease is caused a parasitic worm introduced by the fly. The worm develops in the human body and causes serious skin lesions, constant itching, and eventually blindness. In order to combat the disease, the APOC distributes the antidote, Mectizan. The manufacturer, Merck $ Co, had repeatedly pledged to donate the medication in whatever quantity is needed to 25 million people "for as long as necessary", the World Bank said.

The 10-14 December meeting, held in Washington DC, was co-hosted by the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development.

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