Since the inception of the Merck MECTIZAN^® Donation Program (MDP) in 1987, Merck has donated more than 3.5 billion tablets of MECTIZAN (ivermectin) for river blindness, with nearly 850 million treatments approved since 1987.

The program currently reaches approximately 100 million people through river blindness programs in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East (Yemen) annually. Additionally, 534 million treatments for lymphatic filariasis (LF) have been approved, with 120 million treatments approved in 2010 alone. To date, Merck has invested approximately $45 million dollars in direct financial support for the MECTIZAN Donation Program, in addition to donating $5.1 billion worth of tablets.

The donation of MECTIZAN also has led to the development of community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) programs through which trained community volunteers distribute medicines, a critical element to effective mass treatment programs in remote areas that often lack trained healthcare workers. CDTI programs currently exist in more than 146,000 communities in 28 countries in Africa; CDTI programs for lymphatic filariasis exist in 16 countries in Africa and in Yemen. The CDTI strategy has enabled other health and social services—such as vitamin A distribution, cataract identification, immunization campaigns, training programs for community health workers and census-taking—to be introduced in often remote communities where health services are limited. Close to 60 percent of MECTIZAN community distributors have assumed added responsibility of at least one additional health intervention.

Impact

• In 2002, the OPEC Fund estimated that the Merck MECTIZAN Donation Program prevented 40,000 cases of river blindness annually, and that a direct result of this would be 7.5 million years gained of productive adult labor.
• In the 19 countries of the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), more than three million disability-adjusted life years have been saved since 1995, and the prevalence of itching and skin lesions due to onchocerciasis has been reduced by 80 percent.
• The impact of the MECTIZAN Donation Program extends beyond the immediate health benefits; estimates show that investments in river blindness control programs (e.g., MECTIZAN treatment and aerial spraying to control black fly populations) are helping people live not only healthier but also more productive lives.

Highlights

• In 2010, Ecuador becomes the second country in the world to suspend treatment for river blindness, entering a three-year, post-treatment surveillance period after which the World Health Organization may certify the elimination of river blindness.
• In 2009, the World Health Organization releases a study showing evidence that elimination of onchocerciasis is feasible in Africa using currently available tools.
• In 2008, it was announced that 31 percent of the formerly at-risk population in the Americas is no longer at risk of contracting the disease.