Nongovernmental Development Organization (NGDO) Partners
The Mectizan Donation Program relies on our partner NGDOs to ensure that Mectizan is distributed to all who need it. If you would like to help the people afflicted by onchocerciasis and/or lymphatic filariasis, please contact one of the organizations listed below:
The Carter Center's River Blindness Program assists ministries of health to eliminate river blindness in the six countries in the Americas — Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela — through the special Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas and to control river blindness in five African countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda.
For LF, in a collaborative effort, The Carter Center and its partners are working to show that the transmission of lymphatic filariasis can be interrupted on a large scale in Nigeria with mass community drug treatment and health education. In 2007, 3.4 million mass treatments were distributed to prevent lymphatic filariasis in the two Nigerian states of Plateau and Nasarawa--a remarkable 93 percent of the eligible population.
The Carter Center's Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program is based on the same community education and drug distribution system as the Center's River Blindness Program. In fact, the drug Mectizan, which is used in combination with albendazole to prevent transmission of lymphatic filariasis, is the same drug used worldwide to prevent transmission of river blindness. After years of success distributing Mectizan for river blindness in Nigeria, the Center began a pilot project to determine the feasibility of adding albendazole to the treatment regimen in communities where both river blindness and lymphatic filariasis are endemic.
Christoffel Blindenmission (CBM) is an international development agency for people with disabilities. CBM implements mass drug administration in Africa in areas where LF and oncho coexist and works on morbidity management activities through community-based rehabilitation.
The Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW)
CSSW began its onchocerciasis control activities in Yemen in 2001 and has rapidly expanded its efforts to cover 86 communities in 5 governorates (Almahweet, Hoddeidah, Hajja, Sana’a, and Raimah) in the western region of the country. The organization’s objectives are to raise health awareness on disease prevention measures and to achieve community participation in onchocerciasis disease control. More specifically, CSSW aims to reduce the rate of infection by onchocerciasis to less than 5% until the disease is eliminated in targeted areas.
Handicap International (HI) specializes in the field of disability with an aim to improve the capacity of disabled people to satisfy their basic needs and to exercise their fundamental rights. HI has been a member of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis since 2001 with a focus on improving the lives of people with advanced stages of LF. As of 2006, HI provides technical and financial support for hydrocoelectomy and lymphoedema management in Burkina Faso and Madagascar through community mobilization and reinforcement of the local health systems. In addition, HI has provided technical support and capacity building in Orissa State, India.
Health and Development International
Health & Development International’s (HDI) involvement with LF Elimination had a world-wide focus from the start, helping stimulate the beginning of the global effort, combined with support for getting activities started in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, specifically, Ghana and Togo. HDI created and leads The West African LF Morbidity Project to train surgeons in 12 West African countries in new, more effective, safer surgical techniques for men who have fluid in the scrotum, sometimes many liters of it, due to this disease.
Helen Keller International (HKI) provides technical and financial assistance to establish eye health and nutrition programs in partnership with host countries. HKI currently supports onchocerciasis (CDTI) programs in 7 countries with LF and onchocerciasis activities integrated in Burkina Faso and planned in several other countries. Other integration initiatives include vitamin A supplementation and screening and referral of cataract patients. HKI focuses on capacity building, developing information, education and communication strategies and materials, and effective monitoring and evaluation in all country programs it supports and has provided technical assistance to many other countries in Africa as well.
Interchurch Medical Assistance
Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA) has been supporting onchocerciasis control in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has been supporting LF control and morbidity management in Haiti, Ghana, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, and India.
Since 2004, LEPRA has applied its vast experience working with both governments and communities to address poverty related diseases, including the prevention of LF in Bangladesh. LEPRA has enabled the government of Bangladesh to effectively distribute a single dose, once yearly, two-drug regimen: albendazole with either ivermectin or diethylcarbamazine to 13,707,000 people. LEPRA also conducts community mobilization, training programs, advocacy, and IEC campaigns. LEPRA has since expanded its activities to include LF prevention in Orissa, India and plans to further strengthen the community and government response for morbidity management in both India and Bangladesh.
Light for the World is an Austrian NGDO focusing on the prevention of blindness and rehabilitation of people with disability. In the field of onchocerciasis control, support is provided to two Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) projects in Ethiopia through technical expertise in training and supervision, community mobilization, and capacity building, as well as financial and logistical assistance.
Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF)
Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service club organization. Through its SightFirst program, LCIF has funded projects that have provided over 80 million Mectizan treatments to people in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Zaire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH)
Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH) support for onchocerciasis control started in 1996 with about 22,000 treatments, which expanded over the years to about 936,000 treatments in 2005. In addition, MITOSATH also supports micronutrient deficiency through vitamin A and iron-folate supplementation and nutrition education. MITOSATH also supports community-based rehabilitation.
Organisation pour la Prévention de la Cécité
The Organisation pour la Prévention de la Cécité (OPC) works to support the prevention of blindness in France and in developing countries. OPC’s activities include prevention and treatment of ocular morbidity and in France OPC also collaborates with rehabilitative centers for people with low vision. OPC provides technical and financial support to many Francophone countries around the world, including combating onchocerciasis and trachoma and providing cataract surgery and primary care.
Sight Savers International (SSI) is a founding memberof Vision 2020 and has over 50 years experience in prevention of blindness, supporting onchocerciasis control for 15 years. In 2005, 13 million people in African countries were treated with SightSaver’s support and recently, SightSavers has approved support for mass drug administration for LF where the disease is coendemic with onchocerciasis.
United Front Against Riverblindness
The United Front Against River Blindness (UFAR) is an African-inspired, US-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to participate, in partnership with other organizations, in the fight against onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the disease is a major public health problem.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s (USF) support for onchocerciasis control in Nigeria began in 1991. The organization is assisting the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health in the control of Onchocerciasis in nine states; namely Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Gombe, Niger, Ondo, Osun and Oyo.
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| ngdobrochure.pdf | 666.03 KB |
| NGDObrochure2.pdf | 1.2 MB |
