ONCHOCERCIASIS
IN AFRICA
CULTURAL ASPECT
Beliefs, values, behaviors of people in Africa regarding social learning and how the culture contributes to Onchoceriasis in the region.
The WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme, which operated between 1974 and 2002, covered 11 countries in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo). The Programme was highly effective, as by 2002 onchocerciasis was no longer a public health problem, except in Sierra Leone and some areas of Benin, Ghana, Guinea and Togo. Intense control activities will continue in these areas until the end of 2007, and surveillance is continuing in all the countries formerly covered by the Programme. Owing to civil confl ict, the status of onchocerciasis has deteriorated in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. (IAPB, 2011)
Limitations
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challenges imposed by war, civil unrest and lack of political support in some endemic countries and districts;
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insufficient resources for achieving the ultimate treatment goals;
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slow socioeconomic development in some countries, which jeopardizes implementation of onchocerciasis-related health interventions; and
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limited sustainability of projects should the donation programme be terminated
Mocé (pronounced mo-chay – a term of endearment meaning ‘grandfather’) lives in the town of Tienfala, in south-west Mali. Mocé lost his eyesight over thirty years ago by river blindness, an NTD caused by a parasitic worm transmitted by the bite of a black fly. He now walks with the aid of a cane and sometimes, when necessary, one of his grandchildren will help lead him when he needs extra assistance. (End Fund, 2016
