Apply for Mectizan

Applications for Mectizan® and albendazole for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination in co-endemic countries are available on the World Health Organization (WHO) website. Applications are reviewed by the Mectizan Expert Committee and the World Health Organization’s Regional Program Review Group(s) (RPRG).

Mectizan is approved for community-based mass treatment programs based on the following technical and administrative requirements:

In countries where onchocerciasis is co-endemic with LF

1 – Prevalence of the diseases based on mapping data must be sufficient to warrant treatment.

2 – Availability of sufficient human and financial resources to maintain annual treatments and high coverages until the diseases are eliminated. Resources include:

• Funding for program implementation, including mass drug administration and impact assessments
• Competent and well-trained staff
• Appropriate Mectizan stock management and reporting
• Preparedness to promptly detect and manage potential post-treatment adverse events

3 – Community buy-in, gained through social mobilization and health education. Drug distributors should be trained and competent in the following areas:

• Identifying individuals ineligible for treatment (i.e., pregnant women, children under 5 who do not meet the height requirement, and severely sick individuals)
• Registering the population eligible for treatment and maintaining those registers for accurate reporting
• Determining the correct Mectizan dose based on height
• Assuring that eligible individuals swallow the proper dose of the medicines
• Providing adequate standby medical care for potential post-treatment adverse events
• Monitoring for prompt detection, adequate management, and reporting adverse event cases (SAEs)

In countries where onchocerciasis is not endemic and Mectizan (ivermectin) is used to accelerate LF elimination in combination with DEC and albendazole (IDA)

The application and review processes for IDA countries are similar to the process described above for countries where onchocerciasis is endemic. Click here to view or download the Mectizan Expert Committee Guide for IDA, called “Guide for Donations of Mectizan Application for IDA Countries.”

This is a limited donation to accelerate LF elimination in the following special settings:

• Absence of onchocerciasis
• Implementation units (IUs) that have not started or have fewer than 4 effective rounds of DEC + Albendazole
• IUs that have not met the appropriate epidemiological targets in sentinel and spot-check site surveys or in TAS, despite meeting drug coverage targets as defined by WHO
• For communities where post-MDA or post-validation surveillance identified infection, suggesting local transmission

Special Requests

In special circumstances, Mectizan can be obtained for the treatment of onchocerciasis outside endemic countries by submitting a special request form to the Mectizan Donation Program via email to mectizan@taskforce.org. French and English versions of the form can be downloaded here:

French: MectizanSpecialRequestForm_FRE (1)
English: MectizanSpecialRequestForm (2)