Public health officials at the 21st Inter-American Conference on Onchocerciasis in Bogota, Colombia announced that Colombia has eliminated onchocerciasis (river blindness) within its borders, making it the first country suffering from river blindness in the Americas to reach this goal. It also was announced that Guatemala and Mexico have now broken the cycle of transmission of river blindness. Both countries will halt their drug treatment programs for the disease in 2012 and begin the three-year post treatment monitoring process, already completed by Colombia, and required by the World Health Organization (WHO) to certify elimination of the disease. Officials attribute the successes in Latin America to a sustained public-private partnership led by The Carter Center that offers health education and drug treatment donated by Merck.

The Carter Center – through its Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA) partnership – assists national ministries of health in six affected countries in Latin America to conduct health education and distribute Merck's medicine, ivermectin (registered trademark MECTIZAN). Other members of the partnership include the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Lions Clubs International Foundation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“River blindness is a devastating disease that multiplies the challenges and burdens already faced by poverty stricken populations,” said former U.S. President and Carter Center founder Jimmy Carter. “Thanks to thousands of dedicated health workers and volunteers in the Americas and the generosity of Merck and the Mectizan Donation Program, this public health threat will soon be eliminated from the Western Hemisphere.”

"It is tremendously rewarding to see our partnership starting to achieve its long held goal of making river blindness a disease of the past. These milestones clearly demonstrate that public-private partnerships like this one are critical to achieving real improvements in global health," said Kenneth C. Frazier, President and CEO of Merck.

PAHO’s Directing Council passed a resolution in 2008 calling for the interruption of transmission of river blindness in Latin America by 2012. In Latin America, river blindness has historically affected people in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Starting in 2012, approximately 80 percent of the half-million people in the region previously at risk will no longer be in need of treatment for river blindness. With today's news, Guatemala and Mexico join Colombia and Ecuador in having broken disease transmission country-wide. The two remaining affected countries, Brazil and Venezuela, will continue treatment in hopes of also interrupting transmission by the end of the next year.

The MECTIZAN Donation Program
In October 1987, Merck announced it would donate the medication MECTIZAN to all who need it for as long as necessary until onchocerciasis is eliminated as a public health problem. The MECTIZAN Donation Program reaches more than 100 million people annually. www.mectizan.org

In Latin America, since 1989, more than 10 million treatments of donated MECTIZAN have been delivered by community health workers and non-governmental organizations. 

About The Carter Center's OEPA
The Carter Center – through its sponsorship of Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas (OEPA) – is leading a coalition of partners in a historic effort to eliminate river blindness from the Western Hemisphere. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. For more information, visit www.oepa.net or www.cartercenter.org.

About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc.

At Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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