Mectizan Donation Program Notes – Spring 2024

Welcome to Dr. Armel Evouna Mbarga

The Mectizan Donation Program welcomes Dr. Armel Evouna to the role of Senior Program Officer, consultant. Dr. Evouna will assist MDP Director Yao Sodahlon in facilitating access to the Merck & Co., Inc.* donation of Mectizan for the elimination of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
Dr. Armel Evouna
In his new role at MDP, Dr. Evouna is reviewing applications and monitoring the supply chain. He will work with partners to promote the best practices for safe and effective implementation of mass drug administration with Mectizan; Mectizan and albendazole; or Mectizan, albendazole, and DEC (IDA, also known as triple drug therapy for LF elimination).
 
Dr. Evouna will also work closely with partners to establish and implement strategies leading to the elimination of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.
 
Dr. Evouna is a medical doctor who is bilingual in French and English. He brings a decade of experience as a field epidemiologist. A 2011 graduate of the Faculté de Médecine et de Sciences Biomédicales Université de Yaoundé, he is also an alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program, the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.
 
The Mectizan Donation Program team is delighted to have Dr. Evouna on board and looks forward to his contributions in the campaign to eliminate river blindness and LF as we work toward the NTD Road Map goals for 2030.

Laboratory Capacity-Building Grant Program Update

In 2022 MDP and Merck* awarded a grant to strengthen laboratory capacity in order to support river blindness elimination in Africa. The World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Onchocerciasis Diagnostics at the College of Public Health, University of South Florida (USF) provides training, laboratory supplies, and diagnostic assistance to grantees in partner countries. We welcome the return of Prof. Thomas Unnasch from his sabbatical.
 
The USF lab’s new website includes links to testing resources, including the laboratory handbook, a laboratory supply calculator, and an application for resources including lab procurement support.
 
In 2023, new labs were enrolled in the West Africa lab network including Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, DRC, Mali, Sénégal, and Togo. Plans are underway for Brazil, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Venezuela to join the network.
 
At the fall 2023 Mectizan Expert Committee meeting in Dakar, Sénégal, the committee recommended special attention be made to the backlog of samples in Mali. Reagents, supplies, and equipment are being sent, and onsite training and assistance is underway.

The Mectizan Donation Program Joins the Task Force for Global Health to Celebrate 40 Years of Collaboration and Partnership for Global Health

MDP is proud to be one of the first permanent programs at the Task Force for Global Health, which is celebrating 40 years of action this year. The Task Force recently published an article about how MDP came to be a part of the organization in 1987 and how MDP became a template for partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and philanthropic global health organizations.

Read the article

MDP Film Named Finalist in the Smiley Movement Charity Film Awards

MDP’s film, Eliminating Disease with Mectizan, documenting Mectizan for river blindness and lymphatic filariasis elimination, which features the journey of the pill from the factory to the communities, was named a finalist for the Smiley Movement Charity Film Awards. The film was featured in the award category “The Big Issue Corporate Cause” and was also recognized for supporting UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing.
 
Our fellow nominees produced inspiring films on a wide range of topics ranging from air ambulances to wildlife preservation. The film was produced by the talented team at Cloud9Media.
Watch the film

Now Available from GONE: "Scoping the needs and gaps of endemic countries in the onchocerciasis elimination program"

The Global Onchocerciasis Network for Elimination (GONE) secretariat has undertaken a needs assessment in all endemic countries to identify the status of onchocerciasis elimination efforts, challenges, bottlenecks and critical actions required to achieve elimination targets.

This report summarizes the findings in order to help determine priority areas and critical actions to be implemented by GONE partners.

Download the report

NGO Spotlight

From Never-Treated to Behavior Change Champion: LF Treatment in Haiti
Our NGO partner WI-HER, working with Act to End NTDs | East and Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population, provided this heartening story of a woman who changed her mind.
Mme Majorie Lamour
Mme Majorie Lamour

Majorie Lamour had never participated in mass drug administration campaigns due to misinformation, but participation in a focus group allowed her to share her fears and to learn important facts. Mme Lamour is now a part of her local Behavior Change Team and is proud to share her story with others in her community.

Learn more

The Mectizan Donation Program is an international program to eliminate river blindness and lymphatic filariasis primarily funded by Merck, with support from GlaxoSmithKline.

*Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey USA, is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.

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