The achievements and challenges of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC)

The main strategy of APOC, of community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI), has enabled the programme to reach, empower and bring relief to remote and under-served, onchocerciasis-endemic communities. With CDTI, geographical and therapeutic coverages have increased substantially, in most areas, to the levels required to eliminate onchocerciasis as a public-health problem. Over 20 million people received treatment in 2000. APOC has also made effective use of the combination of the rapid epidemiological mapping of onchocerciasis (REMO) and geographical information systems (GIS), to provide information on the geographical distribution and prevalence of the disease. This has led to improvements in the identification of CDTI-priority areas, and in the estimates of the numbers of people to be treated. A unique public-private-sector partnership has been at the heart of APOC's relative success. Through efficient capacity-building, the programme's operations have positively influenced and strengthened the health services of participating countries. These laudable achievements notwithstanding, APOC faces many challenges during the second phase of its operations, when the full impact of the programme is expected to be felt. Notable among these challenges are the sustainability of CDTI, the strategy's effective integration into the healthcare system, and the full exploitation of its potential as an entry point for other health programmes. The channels created for CDTI, could, for example, help efforts to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (which will feature on the agenda of many participating countries during APOC's Phase 2). However, these other programmes need to be executed without compromising the onchocerciasis-control programme itself. Success in meeting these challenges will depend on the continued, wholehearted commitment of all the partners involved, particularly that of the governments of the participating countries.

The Carter Center's assistance to river blindness control programs: establishing treatment objectives and goals for monitoring ivermectin delivery systems on two continents

Periodic mass treatment with ivermectin in endemic communities prevents eye and dermal disease due to onchocerciasis. As part of an international global partnership to control onchocerciasis, The Carter Center's Global 2000 River Blindness Program (GRBP) assists the ministries of health in ten countries to distribute ivermectin (Mectizan, donated by Merck & Co.). The GRBP priorities are to maximize ivermectin treatment coverage and related health education and training efforts, and to monitor progress through regular reporting of ivermectin treatments measured against annual treatment objectives and ultimate treatment goals (e.g., full coverage, which is defined as reaching all persons residing in at risk villages who are eligible for treatment). Since the GRBP began in 1996, more than 21.2 million ivermectin treatment encounters have been reported by assisted programs. In 1999, more than 6.6 million eligible persons at risk for onchocerciasis received treatment, which represented 96% of the 1999 annual treatment objective of 6.9 million, and 78% of the ultimate treatment goal in assisted areas.