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To nominate someone for the 2005 Mectizan Award, please complete a nomination form online or contact the Mectizan Donation Program. The Mectizan Donation Program encourages you to nominate those who have made outstanding contributions to the control of onchocerciasis.
Winner of the 2006
Merck Mectizan Award
The Mectizan Donation Program is pleased to announce that Professor Hugh Taylor has been selected as the recipient of the 2006 Merck Mectizan Award. Professor Taylor was nominated for the award by his peers in recognition of his numerous important contributions and sustained dedication to the fight against onchocerciasis.
He was involved early on in the research for chemotherapy to control onchocerciasis. Soon after ivermectin was developed, Professor Taylor published a number of studies including a comparison of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and ivermectin for the treatment of onchocerciasis, the effects of ivermectin on onchocerciasis transmission, the safety of community-based treatment, early adverse reactions and others.
Professor Taylor is internationally recognized as a leader in blindness prevention and research. He is currently the Ringland Anderson Professor and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, and Managing Director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA).
He has published 10 books and more than 500 papers based on his research interests, which include blindness prevention strategies, infectious causes of blindness, the delivery of eye care to developing countries, and the adverse effects of UV light on the eye.
In addition to the Merck Mectizan Award, he has received a number of prestigious awards around the world. During the 2001 Queen’s Birthday Honours in Australia, Professor Taylor was made a Companion in the Order of Australia, the country’s highest civic honor, in recognition “for service to medicine in the field of ophthalmology, particularly through renowned work in the prevention of river blindness in the third world, to academia through research and education related to the prevention of eye disease, and to the development of policy on eye health in indigenous communities.” He also received the Paul Harris Award from Rotary International, the International Blindness Prevention Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Mildred Weisenfeld Award made by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in recognition of his contribution to visual science and ophthalmology, and the Gold Medal from the International Organization against Trachoma.
Though Professor Taylor was unable to attend the 36th Mectizan Expert Committee/Albendazole Coordination (MEC/AC) meeting, where the award was announced, he is planning to accept the award at the next MEC/AC meeting.
PREVIOUS MERCK MECTIZAN AWARD WINNERS
Dr. Yankum Dadzie
Winner of the 2005
Merck Mectizan Award
The Mectizan Donation Program would like to congratulate Dr. Yankum Dadzie - recipient of the 2005 Mectizan Award. The award was presented to Dr. Dadzie in London during the 35th meeting of the Mectizan Expert Committee/Albendazole Coordination in January 2006. The Mectizan Award is presented to individuals who are internationally recognized for their outstanding dedication to onchocerciasis control. Recipients are selected by the Mectizan Expert Committee Chair and by Merck & Co., Inc.
Dr. Dadzie was selected for the award because of his long-term outstanding dedication to onchocerciasis control and his more recent involvement with the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. He was instrumental in the introduction of Mectizan large-scale chemotherapy into onchocerciasis control activities and served as the first Coordinator of the Non-Governmental Coordination Group for Onchocerciasis Control. Dr. Dadzie later became the director of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP). He also facilitated the formation of National Onchocerciasis Task Forces by uniting the efforts of APOC, Non-Governmental Development Organizations and Ministries of Health in the development of National Plans of Action for onchocerciasis control.
Dr. Dadzie also published a number of important scientific papers on the use of Mectizan to combat onchocerciasis, which added valuable technical resources to the scientific literature for the advancement of the elimination of onchocerciasis as a public health problem.
Now Dr. Dadzie is applying his expertise to the elimination of lymphatic filariasis. He is helping to integrate the activities of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) with existing onchocerciasis control activities in Africa in his capacity as Chair of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and he is serving as the first chair of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis Executive Group, which will help bring continuity to lymphatic filariasis elimination efforts by uniting the many program partners involved in the GPELF and by helping mobilize the funds needed for program implementation at the country level.
Dr. Seydou Mariko - recipient of the Merck Mectizan Award for 2004
The Mectizan Donation Program would like to congratulate Dr. Seydou Mariko - recipient of the 2004 Mectizan Award. The award was presented to Dr. Seydou Mariko at the offices of the Organisation pour la Prévention de la Cécité (OPC) in Paris during a reception held in conjunction with the 33rd Mectizan Expert Committee/Albendazole Coordination meeting on October 13, 2004.
The Mectizan Award is presented to individuals who are internationally recognized for their outstanding dedication to onchocerciasis control. Recipients are selected by the Mectizan Expert Committee Chair and by Merck & Co., Inc.
Based in Mali, Dr. Mariko has worked for the OPC for a number of years. He is known for his ability to reach onchocerciasis endemic communities in remote areas with Mectizan treatment, and has developed a strong network in Guinea, Mali, and Senegal resulting in high treatment coverage. In 2002, more than 2 million people in 6,000 villages were treated in those countries. Dr. Mariko helped develop the Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) strategy with pilot programs that were later implemented in Guinea, Mali, and Senegal and replicated throughout the region.
He has also worked toward increasing awareness of onchocerciasis and Mectizan treatment at the local, national, and international levels. He is well respected
throughout the region, which has resulted in highly successful collaborations. Dr. Mariko is also well known for his ability to successfully adapt treatment strategies to difficult situations such as refugee camps in Guinea. His success in the effort to control onchocerciasis well qualifies him for the Mectizan Award.
To nominate someone for the 2005 Mectizan Award, please complete a nomination form online or contact the Mectizan Donation Program. The Mectizan Donation Program encourages you to nominate those who have made outstanding contributions to the control of onchocerciasis.
Dr. Adenike Abiose - recipient of the 2003 Merck Mectizan Award
The Mectizan Donation Program would like to congratulate Dr. Adenike Abiose of Kaduna, Nigeria, and Mr. Joseph Gabu of Bahr al Ghazal, Sudan, recipients of the 2003 Mectizan Award at the international and district levels, respectively. The Mectizan Award is given to individuals who contribute to onchocerciasis treatment programs (in the context of public health or primary health care) above and beyond the call of duty, display proven dedication to the cause, and exhibit extraordinary leadership.
Ms. Joan Wainwright, Vice President of Public Affairs at Merck & Co., Inc., announced both awards during a ceremony held at Merck’s headquarters on October 29, 2003 and presented Dr. Abiose with her award.
Dr. Abiose has demonstrated a commitment to onchocerciasis control through more than 30 years of work on the disease at the national and international levels. The following is an excerpt from her acceptance speech:
“As I reflect on 30 years of onchocerciasis control, the donation of Mectizan for as long as necessary by Merck, the partnerships that have developed around this, and the progress made in the field, I feel very humbled to have been nominated for this Mectizan Award.
It is rather contradictory that I should be receiving this award. Coming from an onchocerciasis endemic country and community, and having been infected with onchocerciasis myself earlier in life, I should rather have been standing here to give an award of appreciation to Merck & Co., on behalf of endemic communities for the generous donation of Mectizan. Mectizan donation means much more to endemic communities than getting the tablets to the needy communities at the end of the road, for as long as necessary. It means also the capacity development in endemic countries to face the challenges not only of onchocerciasis control, but also other disease control programs. It means getting health services to some communities at the end of the road for the very first time and using the structures developed around Community-Directed Treatment with Ivermectin for Mectizan distribution to address other health and community development activities. It means research opportunities for scientists from endemic countries, opportunities which they may not have had otherwise. Such an opportunity played a major role in my being here today. Mectizan also means empowering the communities at the end of the road to take responsibility for their own health and the health of their families.
The unique demonstration of corporate responsibility by Merck & Co., 16 years ago in the donation of Mectizan to communities, which could not otherwise afford it, opened a new chapter in public health, which has been followed by other donations like albendazole and azithromycin. For these reasons and for the dedication of all involved in the Mectizan Donation Programme and in onchocerciasis control, I cannot adequately express the gratitude of all endemic communities. . . .
I thank Merck most sincerely for this award, which I shall always cherish. Thank you all and God bless.”
Mr. Joseph Gabu - recipient of the 2003 district level Merck Mectizan Award
Mr. Joseph Rakuba Gabu of Bahr al Ghazal, Sudan is the winner of the 2003 Merck Mectizan Award at the district level. The award will be presented to Mr. Gabu in Sudan by a representative on behalf of Merck & Co., Inc. and the Mectizan Donation Program. Mr. Gabu has served as the focal point for onchocerciasis control in Bahr al Ghazal, Sudan since 1977 and in spite of the civil conflict afflicting the region since 1955, has remained committed to delivering Mectizan to those in need. He was appointed zonal coordinator in 1997 in an area with extremely high prevalence of onchocerciasis. Mr. Gabu is well known for obtaining high coverage for his area - even in high-risk areas near the borders between Operation Lifeline Sudan and the Government of Sudan. He maintains the onchocerciasis clinic in the local hospital and supervises Community-Directed Treatment with Ivermectin in the region along with other responsibilities including health education, community mobilization, and training of Community-Directed Distributors. Mr. Gabu is well known and highly respected in Bahr al Ghazal and in the rest of onchocerciasis-endemic southern Sudan for his long-standing commitment and dedication to onchocerciasis control.
Recipients of the first annual Merck Mectizan Award - 2002
The winners of the 2002 Mectizan Award were announced on 5 September 2002 in Tanzania during the 15th Anniversary Celebration. The recipients, Mr. Chukwu Okoronkwo and Dr. Brian O.L. Duke, received awards for their outstanding contributions to the control of onchocerciasis. Dr. Guillermo Zea-Flores also received the Mectizan Donation Program's Special Achievement Award during the 2002 InterAmerican Conference on Onchocerciasis
Dr. Brian O.L. Duke - recipient of the 2002 Merck Mectizan Award
Dr. Brian O.L. Duke received the international level award. Dr. Duke has worked on onchocerciasis for more than 40 years, and pioneered some of the early studies on the disease. He was a key player during the planning stages for mass distribution of Mectizan. The following is an excerpt from Dr. Duke’s acceptance speech:
... some eight years after the end of the Second World War, onchocerciasis was still a rather obscure disease appearing in small print at the back of the textbooks on tropical medicine, and not very much was known about its importance. It so happened that a number of independent research teams were then established, in Upper Volta, Cameroon and in East Africa to make a thorough investigation of the epidemiology, entomology and socio-economic consequences of this disease. Over the next 15-20 years a great deal was learned about the disease, and the devastating effects of River Blindness, causing desertion of fertile riverine land and impeding socio-economic development, were revealed.
The results of this research work led, in 1969, to the Tunis meeting (involving WHO, the OCCGE and United States Agency for International Development) and to the decision to set up the multi-country Onchocerciasis Control Programme in the Volta River Basin (OCP) in 1974. This programme, which depended on the regular and widespread aerial applications of rapidly biogegradable insecticides to the riverine breeding sites of the insect vector, Simulium damnosum, and which was supported by a vital operational research element, was a great success. It virtually stopped transmission over a huge area. Children born after the programme started remained uninfected and free from the threat of blindness. There were enormous socio-economic benefits and development of previously-deserted land in the area; but, unfortunately, many of those people already infected went on to go blind because no drug suitable for large-scale rural use was available.
At that time there were several drugs, notably diethylcarbamazine (DEC), that could kill the microfilariae, but they all killed these parasites in situ and thus excited severe and sometimes devastating reactions in the skin and eye, which prevented their use on a large scale. Then, suddenly out of the blue from Merck, came a new and different microfilaricide, namely ivermectin or Mectizan . This one merely paralysed the microfilariae in the skin and they were then swept into the lymphatic system and therein destroyed, without much reaction, in the same way as the body deals with many other foreign invaders. It could thus be used for mass treatment.
Merck then had another brilliant idea. Realising that the millions of rural people with onchocerciasis in Africa and Latin America would be far too poor to buy their drug, they decided to start the Mectizan Donation Program, providing the drug free wherever it was needed in endemic countries and for as long as necessary….”
Mr. Chukuw Okoronkwo - recipient of the 2002 district level Merck Mectizan Award
Mr. Chukwu Okoronkwo of the Ministry of Health and NGDO Coalition in Nigeria received the Community/District level award. Mr. Okoronkwo was nominated for the award for his commitment to onchocerciasis control in Nigeria. He developed the “Nigeria Onchocerciasis News” newsletter and is known for his census validation work and its application in obtaining Nigeria’s ultimate treatment goal. In response to receiving the award Mr. Okoronkwo said:
“I wish to thank Merck & Co for the honour bestowed on me in selecting me as one of the inaugural winners of The Merck Award. My appreciation also goes to all those who nominated me for the award.
I have never felt that I was doing anything extraordinary. I have been guided by one principle: 'whatever your hands find to do, do it to your utmost ability as unto God, and not to man only'. I have therefore just been trying to do what I believe is right and necessary.
This award will no doubt send positive signals to many who have been putting in their best but feel that their efforts are not being appreciated or recognised. For me it is an encouragement to keep on working.”
Dr. Guillermo Zea-Flores Receives the Merck Mectizan Donation Program’s Special Achievement Award
During the commemoration of the Mectizan Donation Program’s 15th anniversary, Dr. Guillermo Zea Flores, Expert Advisor to the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA), was presented with the Mectizan Donation Program Special Achievement Award during the 2002 InterAmerican Conference on Onchocerciasis in Manaus, Brazil. The award was given to Dr. Zea-Flores in recognition of his “steadfast dedication and vital contributions” to the development and sustainability of Mectizan mass distribution in Latin America. 
Dr. Zea-Flores’ work on onchocerciasis began in 1977 with the Guatemala Ministry of Public Health where he remained until 1991, during which time he played a key role in the search for a safe and effective drug to treat onchocerciasis.
Much of his research was conducted during the war in Guatemala, which was often fought in onchocerciasis endemic areas. Dr. Zea-Flores and his field staff worked in these areas of conflict where they encountered gunfire and their vehicles were burned. In addition to these enormous challenges, they often worked in rough terrain with little or no road access.
Dr. Zea-Flores’ participation in the early development of Mectizan has been instrumental in the Mectizan Donation Program’s success. In 1985 he was asked by Merck, Sharp & Dohme to serve as principal investigator in Latin America during the phase III trials of Mectizan (ivermectin, MSD). Following Merck’s announcement of the donation of Mectizan in 1987, Dr. Zea-Flores became one of the first members of the Mectizan Expert Committee and was a key player in the early planning for mass distribution of Mectizan. He has been involved with OEPA since its inception in 1993 providing technical assistance and support for all six endemic countries in Latin America. With his guidance, OEPA is sure to achieve its goal to eliminate morbidity and transmission of the disease.
Dr. João Sanches of Merck & Co., Inc. in Brazil presented Dr. Zea-Flores with the award commenting, “His dedication is unparalleled. His courage and perseverance astounding. His vision and ability to motivate others to work with him toward the goal of elimination remarkable. Dr. Zea-Flores is a true leader in public health. Quite simply, because of Dr. Zea-Flores, thousands of people in Latin America no longer face the devastation wrought by onchocerciasis.”
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