River Blindness: The Beginning of the End (2018)
From the The Non-Governmental Development Organisation (NGDO) Group for Onchocerciasis Elimination
For many individuals and their families, river blindness will remain a lifelong, inescapable burden. We must act now to prevent the disease returning and stop millions of others needlessly suffering the same outcome. With a concerted final push, elimination of the disease is achievable, realistic, and cost effective, with the potential to bring huge public health and socio-economic benefits in currently remaining endemic areas. Realising these benefits, we must eliminate river blindness once and for all.
This document serves as a framework to address concerns, identify unique opportunities and alert the international community to the exciting possibility of the elimination of transmission of the disease, but also serves as a wake-up call to the consequences of not continuing the effort. Slowing the momentum would result in disease recurrence, the waste of 40 years of important research, and major stakeholder inputs, creating a major reversal of a public health success.
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