Abstract
Through the Mectizan® Donation Program, Merck & Co., Inc. has donated Mectizan (ivermectin, MSD) for the treatment of onchocerciasis worldwide since 1987. Mectizan has also been donated for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) since 1998 in African countries and in Yemen where onchocerciasis and LF are co-endemic; for LF elimination programs, Mectizan is co-administered with albendazole, which is donated by GlaxoSmithKline. The Mectizan Donation Program works in collaboration with the Mectizan Expert Committee/Albendazole Coordination, its scientific advisory committee. In 2005, a total of 62,201,310 treatments of Mectizan for onchocerciasis were approved for delivery via mass treatment programs in Africa, Latin America, and Yemen. Seventy-seven percent and 20% of these treatments for onchocerciasis were for countries included in the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) and the former-Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP), respectively. The remaining 3% of treatments approved were for the six onchocerciasis endemic countries in Latin America, where mass treatment is carried out twice-yearly with the goal of completely eliminating morbidity and eventually transmission of infection, and for Yemen. All 33 onchocerciasis endemic countries where mass treatment with Mectizan is indicated have ongoing mass treatment programs. In 2005, 42,052,583 treatments of co-administered albendazole and Mectizan were approved for national Programs to Eliminate LF (PELFs) in Africa and Yemen. There are ongoing PELFs using albendazole and Mectizan in nine African countries and Yemen; these represent 35% of the total number of countries expected to require the co-administration of these two chemotherapeutic agents for LF elimination. In Africa, the expansion of existing PELFs and the initiation of new ones have been hampered by lack of resources, technical difficulties with the mapping of LF endemicity, and the co-endemicity of LF and loiasis. Included in this review are recommendations recently put forward for the co-administration of albendazole and Mectizan in areas endemic for LF, loiasis, and onchocerciasis.
Highlights
On the occasion of the 35th Mectizan® Expert Committee/ Albendazole Coordination meeting (MEC/AC35) which took place in London, United Kingdom from 10–12 January 2006, a review of the work of the Mectizan DonationProgram (MDP) in onchocerciasis control and lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination during 2005 was presented
The Mectizan DonationProgram (MDP) is an international public health organization supported by Merck & Co., Inc. to oversee the donation of Mectizan for
In 1998, Merck expanded its donation of Mectizan for use in national Programs to Eliminate LF (PELFs) in 28 African countries and in Yemen where onchocerciasis and LF are co-endemic [1]
Summary
On the occasion of the 35th Mectizan® Expert Committee/ Albendazole Coordination meeting (MEC/AC35) which took place in London, United Kingdom from 10–12 January 2006, a review of the work of the Mectizan Donation. Program (MDP) in onchocerciasis (river blindness) control and lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination during 2005 was presented. Highlights from that review are summarized below. The MDP is an international public health organization supported by Merck & Co., Inc. to oversee the donation of Mectizan (ivermectin, MSD) for (page number not for citation purposes). Filaria Journal 2006, 5:11 http://www.filariajournal.com/content/5/1/11 onchocerciasis control worldwide and by Merck and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to oversee their donations of Mectizan and albendazole, respectively, for LF elimination in the countries where the two diseases are co-endemic
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