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Haggai volunteers to distribute Mectizan© in the Kaduna State in Nigeria

Haggai volunteers to distribute Mectizan© in the Kaduna State in Nigeria

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River blindness can be consigned to medical history

We have a drug that works, Mectizan®, donated free by Merck. We've pioneered and developed a hugely cost-efficient way of distributing the drug, using local volunteers like Haggai. We've already accomplished an enormous amount, as last year alone we supported the treatment of almost 22 million people.

The pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. Inc. have pledged to donate the drug for as long as it's needed. Sightsavers has helped to establish a network of trained community volunteers to dispense the drug to those at risk - reaching deep into remote and marginalised communities.

Exciting new evidence suggests that if people take Mectizan® annually for at least ten years, they will be permanently safe from river blindness. When the cost of distributing a liftetime's treatment is as little as 60 cent it's easy to see why we believe river blindness should be consigned to medical history.

River blindness can devastate village communities. Bright children like Jacob are robbed of their education, because they are often pulled out of school to become carers to blind relatives. Parents can become unable to farm and support their families. Blindness, poverty and deprivation become a vicious cycle of suffering and waste.

Poor subsistence farming communities like Jacob's need to live near water. But it is here that the black simulium fly breeds. River blindness is transmitted through its bite, and can lead to permanent loss of vision.

With your help, we can ensure that Jacob is protected and can grow up without the fear of going blind - needlessly.