Hopkins A D
CBM Regional Office, Nairobi, Kenya.
Eye (Lond). 2005 Oct;19(10):1057-66. doi: 10.1038/sj.eye.6701962.
The donation of ivermectin by Merck and Co. Inc. has led to one of the most effective private-public partnerships controlling a disease of major public health importance particularly in Africa. The up scaling of ivermectin distribution during the last 15 years has been remarkable with almost 40 million people treated in 2003, many already on their regular annual dose. The tools that have been developed particularly by the APOC programme have been instrumental in this increase. However, ivermectin is a microfilaricide and does not kill the adult worms. Distribution will be needed for at least 25 years and latest estimates indicate that 90 million people need annual treatment if onchocerciasis is to be eliminated as a public health problem. In spite of this incredible progress it is difficult to see how the programme will be sustained, especially after the closure of APOC in 2010. A macrofilaricide destroying adult worms and safe for mass distribution would solve the problem of onchocerciasis.
默克公司捐赠的伊维菌素促成了最有效的公私合作关系之一，用以控制一种对公共卫生具有重大意义的疾病，尤其是在非洲。在过去15年里，伊维菌素分发量的扩大十分显著，2003年有近4000万人接受治疗，其中许多人已开始定期接受年度剂量治疗。特别是非洲盘尾丝虫病控制规划（APOC）项目开发的工具对这一增长起到了推动作用。然而，伊维菌素是一种杀微丝蚴剂，不能杀死成虫。至少需要25年的分发时间，最新估计表明，如果要消除盘尾丝虫病这一公共卫生问题，9000万人需要接受年度治疗。尽管取得了这一惊人进展，但很难看出该项目将如何持续下去，尤其是在2010年APOC关闭之后。一种能够杀死成虫且可安全用于大规模分发的杀成虫剂将解决盘尾丝虫病问题。
