Abstract
1 Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2 Lymphatic Filariasis Support Centre, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 3 Sightcare International, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, 4 Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Paris, France, 5 Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 6 Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 7 Mectizan Donation Program, Task Force for Child Survival and Development, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, 8 Institut National de Recherche en Sante Publique, Bamako, Mali, 9 Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Highlights
Past Achievements in the Control of OnchocerciasisLarge-scale control of onchocerciasis commenced over three decades ago, initially through the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP, 1974– 2002), and more recently by the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC, 1995–2010)
The long-term support of onchocerciasis control, together with sustained political commitment of national governments, bilateral donors, and non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs), is a major, yet unheralded public health and development success story in Africa
Whilst the OCP itself ended in 2002, activities continued in special intervention zones (SIZ) where there were unsatisfactory epidemiological situations suggesting the potential for recrudescence and results in 2002 that were not compatible with the achievement of the OCP objective
Summary
Large-scale control of onchocerciasis commenced over three decades ago, initially through the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP, 1974– 2002), and more recently by the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC, 1995–2010). OCP and APOC have demonstrated that inter-country collaboration can tackle a major public health problem Both programmes have secured long-term funding for ivermectin treatment through a public–private partnership, and have succeeded in scaling up interventions by gaining country commitment and mobilising community involvement [3]. It was hypothesised that maintaining this control strategy for 14 years (initially it was considered that 20 years was necessary) would result in adult onchocercal parasites dying out naturally in the human hosts This strategy was successful in the central OCP area (,1 million km2) where onchocerciasis infection and transmission were eliminated, and where active control could cease and be replaced by surveillance [2]. It is expected that by 2007 CDTI projects will have been launched in all areas in Africa where onchocerciasis is, or has been, a public health problem
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