River Blindness Program - In the News
 
Jan. 23, 2012
Living His Dream: Doctor Fights Tropical Diseases in Africa, Americas
Published Jan. 23, 2012, by the St. Louis Beacon.
Dr. Frank O. Richards Jr. has practiced medicine in places where flying bullets and kidnappings are as common as the tropical diseases he wants to eradicate.

Sept. 16, 2011
InterAmerican Conference on Onchocerciasis, 2010: Progress Towards Eliminating River Blindness in the WHO Region of the Americas (PDF)
Published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 38, 2011, 86, 417–424.
Onchocerciasis is a leading infectious cause of skin disease and blindness, particularly in Africa but also in 6 countries in the WHO Region of the Americas, and in Yemen. It is caused by Onchocerca volvulus, a parasitic worm which becomes encapsulated in fibrous tissue to form palpable subcutaneous nodules.

Aug. 5, 2011
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, April 2011/Réunion du Groupe spécial international pour l'éradication des maladies, avril 2011 (PDF)
Published in the Aug. 5, 2011 issue of the World Health Organization's Weekly Epidemiological Record.
The 18th meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication was convened at the Carter Center, Atlanta, GA, United States, on 6 April 2011, to discuss the control and possible elimination of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis in Africa.

July 18, 2011
Ugandan Man Helps Rid His Community of Onchocerciasis (PDF)
Published July 18, 2011, by African Program for Onchocerciasis Control Magazine.
In the early 1990s, fear dominated the community of Jawe parish, found in Mbale district, Uganda. The Jawe clan's neighboring parishes, Buryango and Bulweta, were being plagued by an unknown ailment that attacked a person's skin and eyes. The disease left its victims unable to care for themselves or their families.

July 11, 2011
Human Swallows Pill. Mosquito Bites Human. Mosquito Dies.
Published July 11, 2011, by The New York Times.
Scientists have proposed an intriguing new way to fight malaria: turning people into human time bombs for mosquitoes.

July 3, 2011
Las últimas luces que apagó la ceguera de los ríos
This article was published on July 3, 2011 in ElColombiano.com.(Spanish text only).
Colombia está  a punto de ser certificada por la Organización Panamericana de Salud como el primer país que logra erradicar la oncocercosis, una enfermedad que ha provocado la pérdida de la visión a 270.000 personas en el mundo.

June 25, 2011
Helping a Starving Family in Niger
This New York Times "On The Ground/Nicholas D. Kristof" column was published in the June 25, 2011, issue.
Sometimes the story becomes more than a story.Today we went to a village in southern Niger to talk to a man who had suffered from river blindness, an excruciatingly painful disease spread by black flies. The condition often results in blindness but now can be treated, thanks in large part to the work of The Carter Center. It has been virtually eliminated. A success story.

Feb. 1, 2011
Global Leader in Malaria Control to Speak in Grand Rapids
Published February 1, 2011, by The Grand Rapids Press.
Malaria control in Africa could be aided by a local audience Wednesday when a global leader in the effort speaks to a state association meeting at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Oct. 12, 2010
Carter's Work to Eradicate Diseases Nearly Complete
Distributed Oct. 12, 2010, by The Associated Press.
Former President Jimmy Carter says his mission to eradicate two diseases that have affected millions in some of the world's poorest nations is nearly complete.
 
Oct. 5, 2010
Metabolomics-Based Discovery of Diagnostic Biomarkers for Onchocerciasis (PDF)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis 4(10): e834. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000834.
Judith R. Denery, Ashlee A. K. Nunes, Mark S. Hixon, Tobin J. Dickerson, Kim D. Janda.
Twice yearly dosage of ivermectin, through the efforts of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA, 1992-present), has lead to a minimization of infection to 13 foci within six countries in Central and South America. Although mass treatment of onchocerciasis foci in the Western hemisphere is slated to be suspended in 2012 [6], achieving the goal of elimination is contingent upon continued surveillance of the disease.
 
Sept. 1, 2010
Curbing Disease: Moving from Control to Elimination in Africa (PDF)
Published September 2010 by EuroTimes.
With onchocerciasis on track for elimination in the Americas in the next couple of years, there are cautious grounds for optimism that the same results can eventually be obtained in Africa where the disease is most prevalent and the need is greatest.
 
March 11, 2010
Not One Case of Blindness From Onchocerciasis in Chiapas, Could Be Eliminated This Year
Published March 11, 2010, by Péndulo de Chiapas. Original text in Spanish.
El director del Programa de Eliminación de la Oncocercosis en las Américas (OEPA, por sus siglas en inglés, Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas), Mauricio Sauerbrey, aseguró que es muy posible que este año México logre la certificación por parte de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) que constate la erradicación de esta enfermedad.
 
March 2, 2010
Transmission of River Blindness, One of the World's Leading Infectious Causes of Blindness, Has Stopped in Ecuador
Published March 2, 2010, by Global Health Progress Media Center.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Ecuador announced that transmission of onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, has stopped in that country. This achievement is the result of the work by MOH workers with support of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas (OEPA).
 
Nov. 25, 2009
Advances in Tropical Medicine and Global Health Highlighted at A.S.T.M.H. Event
This article was published Nov. 9, 2009, by TropIKA.net.
The annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is one of the most prestigious events of its kind and is claimed by its organisers to be "the premier forum for scientific advances in tropical medicine and global health". This year's meeting took place 18–22 November in Washington DC.
 
Nov. 21, 2009
River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) Reduced by Nearly One-third in At-risk Populations in Six Countries
A regional initiative launched in the 1990s to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) in the Americas has substantially reduced the prevalence of the disease in recent years, as evidenced by a 31% decrease in the number of individuals requiring mass drug administration in six endemic countries.  Results were reported today at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
 
Nov. 12, 2008
Public Health Officials Announce Progress in Elimination of Transmission of the Tropical Disease River Blindness
Public health officials gathering at the 18th Inter-American Conference on Onchocerciasis (IACO) in Oaxaca, Mexico, announced that transmission of the tropical disease onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness) has been halted in areas covering 31 percent of the population in Latin America formerly at risk of contracting the disease.
 
Oct. 7, 2008
Pan American Health Organization Passes Resolution to Interrupt Transmission of River Blindness in Latin America by 2012
In an effort to eliminate river blindness (onchocerciasis) from the Western Hemisphere, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an urgent call to interrupt the disease's transmission by 2012.
 
Jan. 4, 2008
Carter Center, Partners, Celebrate 100 Millionth Mectizan® Treatment
The Carter Center's River Blindness Program, with its global partners, announced recently the 100 millionth treatment of Mectizan® since 1996. The drug, proven effective and safe in treatment and prevention of river blindness, also called onchocerciasis, is donated by Merck & Co., Inc. 
 
Nov. 20, 2007
Colombia is First Country to Interrupt Transmission of River Blindness
Colombia has become the first country to interrupt transmission of onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness) on a countrywide basis, according to officials of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program in the Americas (OEPA).


March 13, 2007
National Public Radio: A Doctor's Lifelong Commitment to Fight Diseases (PDF)
Dr. Frank Richards specializes in the infectious diseases that are rampant in developing countries, especially diseases that target children.
 
Feb. 20, 2007
New York Times Feature: Let's Start a War, One We Can Win
This feature by  Nicholas Kristof was published Feb. 20, 2007, by The New York Times and is posted with permission.
They were two old men, one arriving by motorcade with bodyguards and the other groping blindly as he shuffled on a footpath with a stick, but for a moment the orbits of Jimmy Carter and Mekonnen Leka intersected on this remote battlefield in southern Ethiopia. Click here for official reprint (PDF).


Feb. 18, 2007
New York Times Feature: Torture By Worms
This feature by  Nicholas Kristof was published Feb. 18, 2007, by The New York Times and is posted with permission.
Presidents are supposed to be strong, and on his latest visit to Africa Jimmy Carter proved himself strong enough to weep. Click here for official reprint (PDF).

 
April 11, 2005
Emory Report Feature: Moses Katabarwa
Note: This article originally appeared in the April 11, 2005, issue of Emory Report. Reprinted with permission.  
 

Oct. 9, 2005
Houston Chronicle Feature:  River Blindness—A Forgotten Disease
A forgotten disease: With the help of a Houston billionaire, an ex-president and an army of volunteers, millions of Africans will be spared from river blindness.